How to change the default screenshot location on Mac

Mac saves screenshots to the Desktop by default. To change that on macOS Mojave 10.14 and later, press Shift-Command-5, click Options, under Save to choose Other Location… and pick a folder. From then on every screenshot goes there, including the ones you take with Shift-Command-3 and Shift-Command-4.

The same in Terminal, on any macOS version:

mkdir -p ~/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer

Replace ~/Screenshots with your folder. Menu names are from macOS Tahoe 26.1.

Change the screenshot location with Shift-Command-5

1. Press Shift-Command-5. The Screenshot toolbar opens.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Save to, choose Desktop or Documents, or click Other Location… and select a folder. You can create a new folder in the same dialog.
4. Press Esc to close the toolbar.

The setting stays until you change it again. The other items under Save to (Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview) send the screenshot to the clipboard or to that app instead of a folder.

If you've reassigned the shortcut, open Screenshot from Applications → Utilities. On macOS High Sierra 10.13 and earlier there is no Screenshot app, so use Terminal.

Change the screenshot location with Terminal

Create the folder first, then point macOS at it. A quick way to get the path right: type the command with a trailing space, drag the folder from Finder onto the Terminal window, and its full path appears on the command line. Press Return.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Documents/Screenshots

A dragged path needs no quotes: Terminal escapes the spaces in it. If you type a path with spaces by hand, put it in quotes. The shell doesn't expand ~ inside quotes, so write $HOME:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location "$HOME/Pictures/Screen shots"

Then apply the change:

killall SystemUIServer

SystemUIServer handles the screenshot shortcuts. macOS starts it again right away with the new settings, and your apps stay open.

Both ways change the same location setting in com.apple.screencapture, so the folder you set last wins. macOS ignores the folder while Save to is set to Clipboard or an app; the fix is under Common mistakes below. To see the current value:

defaults read com.apple.screencapture location

The domain/default pair of (com.apple.screencapture, location) does not exist means you never changed the folder, so it's still the Desktop.

Reset the screenshot location to Desktop

Delete the setting, and macOS goes back to its default folder, the Desktop:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location
killall SystemUIServer

Or set the Desktop path explicitly:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop
killall SystemUIServer

Without Terminal: Shift-Command-5, Options, Save to, Desktop.

Copy a screenshot to the clipboard instead of a file

Hold Control along with the usual keys: Control-Shift-Command-3 for the whole screen, Control-Shift-Command-4 for a selection. Nothing is saved; paste the image with Command-V. To make this the default, choose Clipboard under Save to.

The screenshot isn't in the folder yet

After each shot a thumbnail floats in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds, and the file is saved when it goes away. Swipe the thumbnail to the right to save at once. To turn the thumbnail off, uncheck Show Floating Thumbnail in Options or run:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool false

Other screenshot settings: format, shadow, file name

These keys live in the same com.apple.screencapture domain.

File format. PNG is the default; jpg, heic, pdf and tiff also work:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

No shadow around windows you capture with Shift-Command-4 and then Space:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

File names start with "Screenshot" followed by the date and time. Change the prefix, or drop the date so files are numbered instead (Shot.png, Shot 1.png):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "Shot"
defaults write com.apple.screencapture include-date -bool false

Finish with killall SystemUIServer. To undo a setting, delete its key, for example defaults delete com.apple.screencapture type.

Common mistakes

• defaults write com.apple.screencapture ~/Screenshots without the word location fails with Rep argument is not a dictionary and Defaults have not been changed. The key goes before the path.
• Screenshots still go to the clipboard or open in an app after the Terminal command. Save to is set to Clipboard, Mail, Messages or Preview, and the location command doesn't change that. Pick a folder in Options, or run defaults write com.apple.screencapture target file and then killall SystemUIServer.
• The folder was deleted, renamed or sits on a drive that isn't connected, and screenshots stop saving. When macOS can't write to the folder, it says you don't have permission to save files in the location where screenshots are stored. Recreate the folder, pick another one, or reset the location to Desktop.
• Looking in the folder while the thumbnail is still on screen. The file appears a few seconds later.

More of my settings for a new Mac: Configure clean MacBook.