How to change the screenshot location on Mac

Short version: press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and under Save to choose a folder, or Other Location… to pick your own. The next screenshot goes there, and you don't need to restart anything.

Change it with the Screenshot toolbar

Since macOS Mojave (10.14), the setting is in the Screenshot toolbar:

1. Press ⇧⌘5.
2. Click Options in the toolbar.
3. Under Save to, choose Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages or Preview. To use any other folder, choose Other Location… and select it.
4. Press Esc to close the toolbar.

The choice applies to ⇧⌘3 and ⇧⌘4 too, not just captures started from the toolbar. Folders you pick with Other Location… stay in the Save to list, so switching between them later takes two clicks.

Make a folder just for screenshots

Pointing screenshots at Documents only moves the clutter. A folder of their own works better. A common choice is ~/Pictures/Screenshots:

1. In Finder, open your Pictures folder (⇧⌘H opens your home folder).
2. Press ⇧⌘N and name the new folder "Screenshots".
3. Drag it to the Finder sidebar so it's easy to reach.
4. Select it under Save to › Other Location… as described above.

A folder inside iCloud Drive works as well if you want screenshots on your other devices. Pick it the same way.

Change it with Terminal

If you set up Macs from a script, or the toolbar option is missing, use the defaults command. Open Terminal and run:

1. mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots to create the folder. macOS won't create it for you, and screenshots fall back to the Desktop if the folder doesn't exist.
2. defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots to set the location.
3. killall SystemUIServer if the next screenshot still goes to the old place. It restarts the process that handles the menu bar; nothing is lost.

Check the result with defaults read com.apple.screencapture location.

How to change it back to the Desktop

In the toolbar, press ⇧⌘5, click Options and choose Desktop. In Terminal, run defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location, then killall SystemUIServer. Deleting the setting returns macOS to its default, which is the Desktop.

Other screenshot settings worth changing

The same Options menu has a few more settings:

• Show Floating Thumbnail shows a preview in the corner for a few seconds after each capture. Leave it on if you like to drag screenshots straight into an email or folder. Turn it off if you want the file saved right away.
• Timer waits 5 or 10 seconds before taking the shot, which helps with menus that close when you press a key.
• Show Mouse Pointer includes the pointer in the image.
• Remember Last Selection reuses the area you selected last time.

To save JPEG files instead of PNG, run defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg in Terminal. JPEG files are smaller, but text and sharp edges look worse than in PNG.

To copy a screenshot without saving a file at all, add Control to the shortcut (⌃⇧⌘4) or choose Clipboard under Save to.

A new folder keeps the Desktop clear, not the folder

Moving the save location keeps your Desktop clean, but the new folder fills up the same way: one long list of files named by date and time. After a few months you have hundreds of them and still have to open each one to see what it is. How to organize screenshots on Mac covers ways to sort a pile you already have.

Where Shelvo helps

Shelvo picks up where the save location setting stops. It sorts each screenshot as you take it:

• It watches the folder macOS saves screenshots to. During setup it suggests the folder macOS is using right now.
• If you change the macOS location later, Shelvo's Settings shows where macOS saves now and offers a button to watch that folder instead.
• Each new screenshot brings up a small prompt. Type a folder name and press Return, and the file moves into that folder inside your Shelvo library, such as ~/Pictures/Shelvo. Keep the library separate from the folder screenshots save to.
• Prefer not to be asked? Turn on auto-save and new screenshots go to a General folder to sort later.
• Shelvo reads the text in every screenshot on your Mac, so you can search for one by a word inside it.

Shelvo needs macOS 13 Ventura or later. It is free for your first 30 new screenshots, then $5 once. There is no subscription and no account.

Questions people ask

Download Shelvo for Mac, free