Capture a Screen Region to a File with screencapture -R

01Command

$ screencapture -x -R 100,100,900,600 ~/Desktop/crop.png

02What it does

The -R flag takes a rectangle in x,y,width,height order measured from the top-left of the main display, so you can re-shoot the exact same area after UI changes — perfect for before/after comparisons and automated docs. -x suppresses the shutter sound for silent capture in shared spaces or scripts. The output file format follows the extension you give (.png, .jpg, .tiff). For Retina displays the saved file is in pixels at 2× scale unless you post-process.

03Risk

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

• screencapture - Create a screenshot of the display
  SS64 · technical · 2026-09-17
  Evidence: Documents `-x Do not play sounds.` and `-R <x,y,w,h>`: capture a rectangle using format x,y,width,height.
• screencapture(1) man page
  Xcode Man Pages (keith.github.io) · technical · 2026-09-17
  Evidence: Man page for screencapture listing `-R<x,y,w,h>` (capture a rectangle at the given coordinates) and `-x` (do not play sounds) among its options.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: Media

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