Short version: macOS saves screenshots to your Desktop as PNG files. If yours aren't there, press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and look at the item checked under Save to. That is where they go.
The default: your Desktop
Out of the box, every screenshot you take with ⇧⌘3, ⇧⌘4 or ⇧⌘5 lands on the Desktop. The file is a PNG with a name built from the date and time, such as Screenshot 2026-10-12 at 9.41.22 AM.png. The time part follows your Mac's region settings, so you may see a 24-hour clock instead. Before macOS 13 Ventura the name started with "Screen Shot" instead of "Screenshot".
Screen recordings made from the ⇧⌘5 toolbar go to the same folder, as .mov files that start with "Screen Recording".
How to check where your screenshots are saving
The quickest check needs no Terminal:
- Press ⇧⌘5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
- Click Options.
- Under Save to, the checked item is your current location: Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, or a folder you picked with Other Location…
- Press Esc to close the toolbar without taking a screenshot.
If you prefer Terminal, run defaults read com.apple.screencapture location. It prints the folder path. If it says the domain or default "does not exist", nobody has changed the setting and screenshots go to the Desktop.
Why a screenshot isn't on your Desktop
When a screenshot seems to have vanished, it is almost always one of these:
- The save location was changed at some point, by you or by an app. Check it with the steps above.
- You held Control. ⇧⌘3 or ⇧⌘4 with Control added (⌃⇧⌘3, ⌃⇧⌘4) copies the image to the clipboard and saves no file. Paste it into Preview with File › New from Clipboard and save it from there.
- Save to is set to Clipboard, Mail, Messages or Preview. Those options hand the image to that app instead of writing a file to a folder.
- You dragged the floating thumbnail. When the small preview appears in the corner after a capture, dragging it into a folder, a document or a message puts the file there instead of the usual location.
- Your Desktop lives in iCloud Drive. With Desktop & Documents Folders turned on in iCloud settings, the Desktop syncs to iCloud Drive, and with Optimize Mac Storage on, older files can be stored in iCloud only until you open them.
How to find a screenshot you just took
- Open a Finder window and click Recents in the sidebar. New screenshots show up near the top, whatever folder they went to.
- Press ⌘Space and type "Screenshot". Spotlight matches the start of the file name.
- For every screen capture on the Mac, renamed or not, type
kMDItemIsScreenCapture:1into Spotlight or a Finder search. macOS tags its own screenshots with that attribute. - Save that Finder search as a smart folder (File › Save in the search window) and add it to the sidebar, so the list is always one click away.
Finding an older screenshot
Finding the screenshot from five minutes ago is easy. Finding the one from March with a tracking number in it is hard, because every file has the same kind of name and the name says nothing about what is in the picture. You end up opening files one at a time.
If you know a word that appears in the image, try Spotlight first. On macOS 13 Ventura and later it can match text inside images. The results mix screenshots with every other file and email, though. How to search text in screenshots on Mac covers the built-in options in more detail.
Where Shelvo helps
Shelvo is a menu bar app that answers "where did it go?" at the moment you take the screenshot.
- During setup it reads where macOS saves screenshots and suggests that folder to watch. You keep using ⇧⌘3, ⇧⌘4 and ⇧⌘5.
- When a new screenshot appears, a small prompt asks which folder it belongs in. Type a name, pick one of your folders from the autocomplete, and press Return. Esc leaves it where it is.
- Filed screenshots move into normal Finder folders under a library folder you choose, such as
~/Pictures/Shelvo. The answer to "where is it?" becomes "in the folder I typed". - Shelvo reads the text in each screenshot on your Mac, so you can search the library for a word you remember from the image.
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
Why can't I find my screenshot on the Desktop?
The save location may have been changed, the screenshot may have gone to the clipboard (you held Control, or Save to is set to Clipboard), or you dragged the floating thumbnail somewhere else. Press Shift-Command-5 and open Options to see the current Save to location.
Can I see where screenshots are saved without Terminal?
Yes. Press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and look at the checked item under Save to. Press Esc to close the toolbar.
Where do screen recordings go on Mac?
To the same place as screenshots. They are saved as .mov files whose names start with Screen Recording.
More guides
- How to change the screenshot location on MacMove screenshots off the Desktop with the toolbar or Terminal, and how to undo it.
- How to organize screenshots on MacFinder stacks, smart folders, batch rename and tags for the pile, and a way to stop it growing.
- How to search text in screenshots on MacCopy text with Live Text, find a screenshot by its words with Spotlight, Photos or Shelvo.
- Shelvo vs CleanShot X vs ShottrWhat each one is for, what they cost, and where the other two are better.