How to Launch and Use Grab Utility on macOS and Mac OS X?

Many Mac users are already familiar with the Utility folder and the useful tools. Some of these apps are helpful when seeking solutions to problems you may have encountered. Among these apps is Grab, which is based on capturing a computer screen image.

Download Insomnia the best API Client for REST, GraphQL, GRPC and OpenAPI design tool for developers. Video guide on how to use Electron Capture Settings and Parameters Screen-share, global hotkeys, and user-prompts Audio Output Syphon Output Automation Workflows with VDO.Ninja Notes on Using and Closing the App For Windows users: For Mac users: Links to downloads below. Download Box Notes for Mac. Download Box Notes for Windows. Keep all your files at your fingertips, whether you're online or off. Share huge files with just a link (no need for attachments). Preview 120+ file types without downloading and easily search for files and folders. Download Box for iPhone and iPad. Download Box for Android. Capabilities of Grab. As mentioned, the Grab app has higher functionality than Mac's built-in screenshot function - here is a clear view of its potential: Is able to capture just a portion of the screen. Takes an image grab of a selected window. Performs a Timed Screenshot. This function allows you to take a screen grab after 10 seconds.

Your Mac has built-in functions for screen capturing. They are reached through keyboard combinations such as Command, Shift, and 3 or 4. However, the Grab app is more powerful and includes different image formats, a timer screenshot function, and more. This article will cover all types of screenshots, how to set up the Grab app to deliver good-quality images, and troubleshooting steps when things don't go your way.

Video showing How to Use Grab Utility on Mac

Table of Contents:

It is recommended to run a free scan with Combo Cleaner - a tool to detect malware and fix computer errors. You will need to purchase the full version to remove infections and eliminate computer errors. Free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Capabilities of Grab

As mentioned, the Grab app has higher functionality than Mac's built-in screenshot function - here is a clear view of its potential:

It can capture just a portion of the screen.

Takes an image grab of a selected window.

Performs a Timed Screenshot. This function allows you to take a screengrab after 10 seconds.

Allows you to select a type of pointer (cursor) and show or hide it in screenshots. To set pointer settings, open Grab Preferences and select the type of pointer, or disable it.

Takes a picture of the entire screen, including multiple-monitor screens.

Saves pictures in various image formats such as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.

Owns a small 'tooltip' displaying the exact coordinate of your pointer, which transforms into the number of pixels selected when selecting an area.

Use of the Grab Utility

This app has a simple interface. However, some steps might be confusing. Here, we walk step-by-step through all Grab functions.

There are several ways to launch the app. As mentioned above, the app is within the Utilities folder, so we can use Spotlight, Launchpad, or Finder to start to Grab. In Finder, go to Applications, choose Utilities, and select Grab. In the Launchpad, Grab is within Other.

Take a screenshot of the selected area on your screen

1. When the app is launched, click on Capture on Grab's menu at the top of your screen.
2. Then choose Selection or simply press Shift, Command, and A together on your keyboard. You will notice Grab's information message.
3. Now, select your desired area by dragging with your mouse.

When you have finished selecting, the picture will appear in a new window to save the image in a specified destination folder with a filename you provide.

Take a picture of the desired window

1. Select Capture from Grab's menu.
2. Then choose Window or simply press the keyboard shortcut Shift, Command, and W.
3. In the popped-up window, click Choose Window.
4. Left-click to select the window required to capture, and then save it.

Capture your entire screen

1. Select Capture from Grab's menu.
2. Choose Screen, or simply press the Command and Z keyboard combination to start capturing the whole screen.
3. An information message will pop up stating that the image will be taken when you left-click the screen anywhere (outside the message).

Perform a timed screenshot

1. To launch a timed screenshot function, go to Capture in Grab's menu.
2. Choose Timed Screen or use the keyboard shortcut Shift, Command, and Z.
3. The activation window will pop up and leave 10 seconds before capturing from the moment you clicked Start Timer.

This function will take a picture of the entire screen - it is handy when you need to take a screenshot of menus or menu options.

Check the details of the taken screenshot

1. To look up information about the screen capture, click Window.
2. Choose Inspector, or simply press Command and 1 together.

This information is available before the image is saved, so you can check the dimensions and file size with the TIFF format, which is the default Grab format for screen captures. You can change this format when you are not saving the screenshot.

Image quality

It is often useful to change the resolution of an image. The Grab app usually captures images at high resolution. However, this is restricted to your display resolution. To achieve a better quality of screenshots, ensure your display is at the highest available resolution.

1. To change your device display resolution, open Mac's SystemPreferences.
2. Choose Displays.
3. Check that the display is set to the highest number of pixels available.

Change default screenshot format

The default format when saving captures is generally PNG and can be changed easily using a terminal and a few simple commands. Mac supports PNG, JPG, TIFF, GIF, and PDF formats, so you can choose any of these. Launch Terminal, which is under the Utilities folder, or use Spotlight.

To set JPEG, enter the Terminal command: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

To set TIFF, enter: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type tiff

To set GIF, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type gif

To set PDF, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf

If you wish to return the format to PNG, type: defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png

The changes will not take effect until you restart the Mac. Alternatively, you can use the additional terminal command: killall SystemUIServer

The Mac will then be forced to reboot, and the system will use the new settings.

Grab utility stopped working after the macOS update

Occasionally, the app might fail to work after a system update. This issue can be due to a corrupted Grab preference file. To see if this is the case on your system, follow the steps below:

1. Open Finder, choose Go from the Finder's menu at the top of your screen, and select Go to Folder.
2. Then, enter the following path: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.grab.plist
3. Move the selected file to Trash or your Desktop and restart the Mac.
4. Once the computer has completely rebooted, attempt to relaunch Grab.

If this step helps, delete the old preference file. Otherwise, try reinstalling the Grab app using macOS Recovery. If none of these solutions fixes the problem, you could reinstall macOS.

Detailed steps on how to reinstall macOS.

An alternative method to take a screenshot on the Mac is to use the built-in screenshot function.

It appears that an increasing number of users would like to download video clips and movies from YouTube, Google Video, Veoh, Break, or DailyMotion, etc. and convert them to portable devices such as iPhone, iPad, etc., so that you can enjoy the videos anytime anywhere.

There are tons of free video downloaders for Mac and Windows PC. Some are for desktop while others are web apps. No matter which one you pick, each has its pros and cons. Here I would introduce the top 10 best free video downloader for Mac or PC to you. All of them are able to help you grab videos to your computer with the URLs.

Best Video Downloader for Mac

Cisdem Video Converter (All-in-one Solution)

• Download clips from more than 1000 popular sites
• Cope with 720p, 1080p, 4k and 8k videos
• Ensure video conversion between over 500 formats without losing quality
• Support batch processing multiple videos
• Built-in media editor allows to trim, combine, crop, add subtitles or effects, etc.
• Rip personal & commercial DVD to digital formats
• Supported OS: OS X 10.10 or later

Free Download

Reviews on Best Free Video Downloader for Mac/PC

1. iFunia YouTube Downloader (Mac)

iFunia YouTube Downloader is a free video downloader for Mac that helps you download online 1080p FHD, 4k UHD videos to Mac in batch. It's not just for video downloads from YouTube but from Dailymotion, Vimeo, Blip TV, Liveleak, Lynda, Break, Vube, Ustream, Ted, and other websites.

Copy the video URL and it will be auto pasted into the URL field. Or you can drag-n-drop all of the videos' thumbnails into the program, and start to download favorite videos for several minutes.

Pros:

1. Easy-to-use, intuitive
2. Support to download YouTube playlist

2. VDownloader (Windows, macOS)

VDownloader is an intuitive app that focuses on video downloading. It’s fully compatible with major video hosting sites, like Dailymotion, Break, Twitch, Vimeo, and more.

However, you are only allowed to bulk download unlimited videos 10 times and convert local videos 3 times. If you like this best free video downloader, you can fetch their commercial version at the price of $17.99/yearly or $59/lifetime.

Pros:

1. Integrated with a search feature to add video content to your follow tab
2. Convert video to custom format

Cons:

1. The speed of installation is pretty slow
2. Not work well on Mac computer and merely available on macOS Mojave or later

3. QDownloader.io (web tool)

QDownloader.io is a free online video downloader & converter with the ability to grab videos from a handful of video hosting sites, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

It can directly convert video from websites to MP4 and MP3 on Mac or PC. There are browser extension versions on Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome, assisting you in downloading.

Pros:

1. User-friendly
2. Quickly catch video by adding io before 'youtube.com'

Cons:

1. Save up to 720p video, even it's a 1080p or 4k video
2. Download up to 128kbps audio only

4. Keepv.id (web tool)

KeepVid is one of the best free video downloader for Mac/PC that allows you to download all types of videos online from YouTube, Facebook, Twitch.Tv, Vimeo, Dailymotion, and many more. The downloaded videos will be saved in MP4, MP3, M4A, or WebM format.

Without superfluous interfaces, novices can get started via copying & pasting the URL in the textbox.

Pros:

1. Preserve video metadata like name, song title, album, etc. in MP3
2. Keep subtitles in various languages

Cons:

1. Only 100 videos in the YouTube playlist can be detected at most
2. Can't download the playlist all at once and no batch download
3. The output definition is limited no exceed 1280p

5. aTube Catcher (Windows)

aTube Catcher is a desktop free video downloader for PC system which can perform lots of video tasks. It lets you download videos from social websites, and export them to PC or some portable devices, like iPad, iPod, PSP, MP4 player, and DVD.

It offers donations access for users to help them in the budget and maintain the best free video downloader app updated and running.

Pros:

1. A host of video formats are supported
2. Record screen, create DVDs/CDs

Best Mac Video Downloader

• No risk of ads, buffering, virus attack to your Mac.
• Support the download from all popular sites, like YouTube, Tumblr, DailyMotion, Blip, Veoh, AOL, Vimeo, etc.
• Batch download
• Preview the downloaded videos
• Snapshot and save your favorite screen picture.
• Convert and transfer videos to any kind of digital device including iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone, PSP, etc.

Free Download

6. Freemake (Windows, macOS)

Freemake is a popular video downloader for free works on Mac and Windows. It supports downloading videos, playlists, channels in HD, MP4, MP3, AVI, 3GP, FLV, etc. Lots of sites are supported, like Youtube, Facebook, Vevo, Hulu, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vkontakte.

The software has a self-explanatory UI. Any new users can easily know how to use it.

Cons (limits of the free version):

1. Download up to 50 videos
2. Each video can’t longer than 3 minutes
3. Unable to convert video to MP3
4. Add Freemake logo to your video
5. Fail to fetch 4k videos

7. ClipGrab (Windows, Mac)

ClipGrab is an acclaimed best free video downloader working on Windows. It supports downloading videos, playlists, channels in MP4, MP3, AVI, 3GP, FLV, etc. with quality retained.

Plus, it supports certain media sites, like Youtube, Facebook, Vevo, Hulu, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Vkontakte.

Note: It expects you to donate 10, 20, 30 euros for further development.

Pros:

1. Automatically catch URL from clipboard
2. Support a built-in search option

8. GetTube (Mac)

In old days, GetTube is a lightweight Mac OS X app that enables you to download videos and playback the media any time you like, directly from your computer. Get Tube works well with Safari and Firefox. Once you install it, you'll see a new button in the browser while you surf on YouTube. Click it and you'll be able to download the featured video in a matter of seconds.

With compatibility with macOS 10.12 or above, GetTube starts to charge, and you need to pay 5 euros to unlock the download function.

Pros:

1. Download videos in high quality
2. Search videos within the software

Cons:

1. Inconvenient UI
2. Only save video as MP4 and MP3 format

9. 4K Video Downloader (Windows, Mac)

4K Video Downloader is a reliable freeware that downloads videos, playlists, channels, and subtitles from YouTube, Vimeo, etc. This best free video downloader for Mac/PC lets you manually set the output formats as MP4, FLV, MKV, MP3, OGG, M4A.

You just copy the URLs of the target movies and, click the button “Paste Links”. But if you want to download more than 25 YouTube playlist videos or download the channel, you have to buy the serial number and get the perpetual permissions.

Pros:

1. Support to download 4k & 360-degree videos
2. Download the whole playlists

10. MacTubes (Mac)

Update: 1. The developer stopped releasing the app; 2. Not work anymore since Google changed YouTube API.

MacTubes is a handy free video downloader for Mac that you don’t have to visit the site itself. It allows you to create playlists based on what you've downloaded or what you've searched on. And it will list the downloaded and played files for you to create playlists.

Pros:

1. Work without having to open the YouTube website

Cons:

1. Offer no compatibility with other major video sites
2. Only save videos in one format

Bonus: Best Video Downloader Mac for Paid

Cisdem Video Converter is a one-stop and professional toolbox for Mac users to download & convert & edit videos, rip DVDs, etc. It should be the best video downloader for Mac to help you grab TV episodes, movies, music videos, news, sports, and other online video clips with the fastest speed.

Once you launch the free trial version, it would pop up a small box. Click “Evaluate”, and download the online video for free. If you buy its pro version, you would get the registration code to enjoy video conversion, video downloading, DVD ripping, and sharing functions within one.

Quick Steps to Download Video from Website Mac Using Cisdem Video Converter:

Download Cisdem Video Converter to your Mac first, then run it and click the download section at the top.

Go to the video streaming sites that the software supports. Find the video you desire to download and copy its URL.

Return to the best video downloader for Mac, and paste the URL to the download bar.

Click on the “down arrow” icon to start the video download. You can add multiple URLs to the download list.

Conclusion

Grab App Mac Download Windows 10

After being familiar with a vast assortment of options for the best free video downloaders for Mac/ PC as well as the paid one, we can easily distinguish their benefits and drawbacks. With our overview, you should have a clearer picture of which best video downloader suits most of your needs.