# How to Circle or Draw on a Screenshot on Mac
> To circle something on a screenshot on Mac, open it in Snapix, press O and drag around it. Draw boxes, lines and freehand marks too, or use Markup's Shapes.
Published: 2026-10-22
Author: Elisei Nicolae
Source: https://snapix.app/tutorials/draw-on-screenshot-mac/
---
To circle something on a screenshot on a Mac, open it in the [Snapix](/) editor, press O and drag across the thing you want to point out. Hold ⇧ as you start for a perfect circle, and use the same editor for boxes, straight lines and freehand ink. If you'd rather not install anything, Markup, the editor built into macOS, has shapes and a sketch tool too.
## How to circle something on a screenshot with Snapix
1. **Open the screenshot in the editor.** Press ⇧⌘4 and drag over what you need. Hover the preview that slides into the corner and click its pencil (**Edit**), or press ⌘E. For a PNG, JPEG, HEIC or TIFF that's already on your Mac, Control-click it in Finder and choose **Open With ▸ Snapix**.
2. **Press O.** This picks the **Ellipse** tool, the circle button in the toolbar. Press R instead for a box, or D to draw freehand.
3. **Drag across what you want to circle.** Press at one corner of an imaginary box around it and let go at the opposite corner. Hold ⇧ from the start for a perfect circle. The tool stays picked, so you can circle the next thing straight away.
4. **Fix it if you need to.** Press Return right after drawing to select the circle, then drag it to move it or pull a handle to resize it. Delete removes it, and ⌘Z undoes any step.
5. **Click Done.** The screenshot, shapes included, is copied to your clipboard and ready to paste. To save a file instead, click **Save as…** and choose where it goes. If you opened the image from Finder, Done and Save as… both write the shapes into that file, and Snapix keeps no copy of the original.
Five tools draw shapes and ink in Snapix, each on its own key.
## Draw a box, circle, line or freehand mark
Rectangle, Filled Rectangle, Ellipse and Line sit together near the start of the toolbar, next to Arrow. Draw sits further along, beside the Highlighter.
- R **Rectangle** draws an outline box, 2 pt thick by default. Hold ⇧ as you start for a square.
- F **Filled Rectangle** draws a solid box that covers whatever is under it. To hide something private, see [how to blur part of a screenshot](/blog/how-to-blur-part-of-a-screenshot-mac/) for Pixelate, Blur and Black.
- O **Ellipse** draws an oval, or a circle if you hold ⇧. It starts as a 4 pt outline.
- L **Line** draws a straight line. Hold ⇧ to keep it to 45° steps. For a line with a head on it, press A and [add an arrow](/tutorials/add-arrow-to-screenshot-mac/) instead.
- D **Draw** is a freehand pen. Drag to draw, or click once for a dot. Hold ⇧ partway through a stroke and it runs level or upright from there. Let go of ⇧ to carry on freehand.
To mark a line of text with a see-through band instead of a ring, press H for the Highlighter. There's more in [how to highlight a screenshot](/tutorials/highlight-screenshot-mac/).
**Tip:** If you start a circle in the wrong spot, keep the mouse button down, hold Space and move it where it belongs. Let go of Space to carry on sizing it.
## Change the fill, color and thickness
The style buttons sit to the right of the tools and change with the tool you've picked.
- **Fill style** (Ellipse only). Click the fill button (its tooltip reads **Fill style**) and choose **Outline** (the default), **Translucent** (the inside tinted with the shape's color at 25%), **Hatched** (diagonal stripes inside the outline) or **Filled** (solid).
- **Rectangles** have no fill menu (the tool sets the fill), but both have a **Rounded corners** button.
- **Color.** Click the round swatch for ten preset colors, your saved Favorites and an eyedropper that picks a color from anywhere on screen. Shapes start out red.
- **Thickness.** Open **Stroke size** and pick a row, from 1, the thinnest (2 pt), to 6, the thickest (18 pt). Or press 1 to 6.
The Ellipse tool’s Fill style menu: Translucent and Hatched keep what’s underneath readable, and Filled covers it.
With a shape selected, a new color, size or fill changes that shape. With nothing selected, it sets up the next one. Each tool keeps its own style, so a yellow circle doesn't turn your next box yellow.
## Move, resize or rotate a shape
Press V for **Select** and click the shape. On a hollow circle or box, click its line, because a click in the empty middle doesn't pick it up. Drag it to move it, or drag one of its eight handles to resize it. To turn a box or an ellipse, point just outside a corner until the pointer becomes a curved arrow, then drag. Hold ⇧ to turn it in 15° steps. A line takes its angle from its two ends, so drag an end to re-aim it.
Hold ⌥ as you drag to pull off a copy, or press ⌘D to duplicate a shape. While Rectangle, Ellipse or Line is still picked, you can also drag a shape you've already drawn by its line, without switching tools. For everything else the editor does, see [how to edit a screenshot on a Mac](/tutorials/edit-screenshot-mac/).
## How to circle something on a screenshot without an app
Markup, the editor behind the screenshot thumbnail and Preview, can draw shapes and freehand lines.
1. **Open the screenshot in Markup.** Right after you take it with ⇧⌘4, click the thumbnail in the corner of the screen before it slides away. For an image already on your Mac, open it in Preview and click the Markup button. Use Preview while Snapix is running too, since Snapix answers ⇧⌘4 then.
2. **Click Shapes and choose the oval.** Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle and Line are in the same menu.
3. **Drag it over what you want to circle.** Resize it with its blue handles.
4. **Style it.** **Shape Style** sets the line's thickness, **Border Color** its color and **Fill Color** the inside.
5. **Click Done** in the screenshot window. In Preview, choose **File ▸ Save** (⌘S) instead.
To draw by hand instead, click **Sketch** and draw in one stroke. If Markup recognizes a shape, it swaps in a clean one. To keep your own drawing, choose it from the palette that appears. On a Mac with a Force Touch trackpad, Markup also has a **Draw** tool, whose line gets heavier the harder you press.
**Note:** In Preview, your shapes become part of the picture once you save the image. Apple notes that annotations on an image file can't be edited, moved or deleted after that.
You can also draw circles, boxes, lines and freehand marks in your browser with the [Annotate Screenshot](/tools/annotate-screenshot/) tool, on the same keys as Snapix. For the same tools on your Mac, [try Snapix free](#get-snapix).
## Frequently asked questions
### How do I circle something on a screenshot on a Mac?
In Snapix, open the screenshot in the editor, press **O** for the Ellipse tool and drag across what you want to circle. Hold **⇧** as you start to get a perfect circle. With the tools built into macOS, click the screenshot thumbnail (or open the image in Preview and show the Markup toolbar), click **Shapes** and choose the oval.
### How do I draw a box around something in a screenshot?
In the Snapix editor, press **R** for the Rectangle tool and drag from one corner to the opposite one. Hold **⇧** as you start for a square, and click **Rounded corners** in the toolbar for softer corners. **F** draws a solid Filled Rectangle instead, which covers what's under it.
### How do I draw on a screenshot on a Mac?
In Snapix, press **D** for Draw and drag, or click once for a dot. In Markup, **Sketch** draws in one stroke and swaps a shape it recognizes for a clean one. Markup's **Draw** tool draws a heavier line the harder you press, but it only appears on Macs with a Force Touch trackpad.
### Can I move or change a shape after I draw it?
In Snapix, yes. Press **V**, click the shape (on a hollow circle or box, its line) and drag it, or pull its handles to resize it. Finish with **Done** (or **Save as…**, **⌘S** or **Pin**), and when you open the capture again later from its preview or from **Recent Captures** (**⇧⌘S**), every shape is still its own mark. In Preview, Apple notes that annotations on an image file can't be edited, moved or deleted once you save it.
