Where do Screenshots go on Mac? [Steps to Change Default]

If you’re new to macOS, you’re going to have a lot of questions. Using macOS can be a little confusing, especially if you’ve only worked on Windows your whole life. In this article, we are going to answer one of those questions: Where do screenshots go on Mac?

The ability to take screenshots is an indispensable thing to have, especially in the case of students. If you want to know all about taking screenshots, where they go on a Mac, and how you can change it, then you’re reading the right article.

Where Do Screenshots Go on Macbook?

You need to know where your screenshots are to be able to edit or share them. On macOS, screenshots are saved to the desktop by default. It will be named “Screen Shot YYYY-MM-DD at (Current time) ” and will be saved using the PNG format. Example: Screen Shot 2020-02-02 at 4.20.79 PM.png

If you are using a certain program to take screenshots, then you have to check the program preferences to find out where the screenshots are being saved to. Usually, they are saved in the folder the program is located in.

How Do I Change Where Do Screenshots Go?

There are a few methods you can use in case you want to change the screenshot save location from your desktop.

Method 1: Find and Change Where Do Screenshots Go

Mojave and newer versions of macOS will let you change the screenshots save location and if someone changed it, they won’t be saved to the desktop. To change or see where do screenshots go on your Mac, just follow these steps:

1. Press Shift+Command+5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
2. Click on Options.
3. Under the Save To header, you will see the location where your screenshots go. You can select Desktop if you want them to be saved there.

Method 2: Using The Terminal

If you’re using a macOS version that is older than Mojave, then changing the save location will not be as easy as method 1. Follow these instructions carefully:

1. Create a folder for your screenshots.
2. Press Command+Space to launch Spotlight.
3. Type in Terminal and then launch it.
4. Copy and paste “defaults write com.apple.screencapture location “(Make sure you also include the space after location)on the Terminal.
5. Drag and drop the folder on the terminal. This will copy the directory path.
6. Press Enter.
7. Copy and paste “killall SystemUIServer“.
8. Press Enter and then close the Terminal.

Do not delete the folder because that will cause a lot of issues down the line. If you want the desktop as the default save location, then follow the same steps but change the command on step 4 to “defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop/”.

Method 3: Change DropBox Settings

have DropBox installed and you want to import all of your screenshots to it, then follow these instructions:

1. 1. Click on the DropBox menu. You can find it at the top right corner of your screen.
   2. Select Settings.

 

1. Click on Preferences and then click on the Import tab.
2. Click on and enable the “Share Screenshots Using DropBox” option.

How To Take Screenshots?

If you’re new to macOS, then it’s important to know the different ways you can take a screenshot. It’s pretty simple and usually requires a key combination.

You can press Shift+Command+3 together to take a screenshot. Pressing Shift+Command+4 together will let you take the screenshot of a part of the screen. The screenshot’s preview will appear on the corner of the screen and you can click on it to edit and save it.

Users can also use the Grab utility to take screenshots. Just open up Applications and then select Utilities. Launch Grab and then you can take and edit screenshots.

Also Read: Best Snipping Tools for Mac

Final Take

That’s all you need to know about this topic. We hope that this article has helped make your transition from Windows to macOS a little bit easier. If you have any doubts about the methods or any other suggestions, please let us know in the comments section down below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.