Remove the drop shadow from Mac window screenshots

Updated 2026 · 3 min read

When you screenshot a window on Mac (⌘⇧4 then Space), macOS wraps it in a soft drop shadow. It looks great in slide decks, but it's distracting in documentation and adds padding to every image. Here's how to get rid of it — temporarily or for good.

Skip the shadow once with Option

If you only need a shadow-free screenshot occasionally, you don't need to change any setting. Hold ⌥ Option while clicking the window:

Press ⌘⇧4 to enter screenshot mode.
Press Space — the cursor becomes a camera and the hovered window highlights.
Hold ⌥ Option, then click the window.

The screenshot is taken without the shadow. Release Option before clicking and the shadow comes back. This is purely per-shot — nothing is changed permanently.

Disable shadows permanently with Terminal

If you want every window screenshot to be shadow-free, open Terminal (Applications → Utilities) and run:

# disable drop shadow on window screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
killall SystemUIServer

From now on, all ⌘⇧4 → Space window screenshots will have a clean, flat edge. No restart needed — the change takes effect immediately after killall SystemUIServer.

Re-enable the shadow

To get the shadow back, flip the value to false:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool false
killall SystemUIServer

Do it in one click

Mainspring has a built-in Disable screenshot shadow toggle — flip it on to remove the shadow, flip it back when you want it again. No Terminal, no commands to remember.

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Does this affect full-screen screenshots?

No. The drop shadow only appears on window-mode captures (⌘⇧4 → Space). Full-screen shots (⌘⇧3) and region shots (⌘⇧4 with a drag) never had a shadow to begin with, so this setting doesn't affect them at all.

What about the screencapture CLI?

If you use the screencapture command in Terminal or a script, the -o flag disables the shadow for that capture:

# capture the frontmost window, no shadow
screencapture -o -w ~/Desktop/window.png

The -w flag waits for you to click a window, and -o suppresses the shadow. Useful for automation.

Why the shadow is there by default

The shadow gives context — it shows the screenshot is a floating window, not a flat image. It also makes the window easier to read against white slide backgrounds. But for technical docs, UI design work, or any place you need precise edges, it gets in the way. Most developers and designers who do a lot of window screenshots turn it off permanently.