If you take a lot of screenshots on a Mac, you might end up with a cluttered desktop. This is because Macs automatically save your screenshots on the desktop. They are also saved as PNG files instead of the more widely used JPEG format. If you want to know how to change where screenshots are saved on a Mac, and the format they are saved in, just follow the steps below:

Where Do Screenshots Go on a Mac?

When you use keyboard shortcuts like Command + Shift + 3, your screenshots are automatically saved to the desktop. You can also right-click the floating thumbnail, which lets you save the screenshot to Documents or Clipboard.

• How to capture screen shots on Mac with keyboard shortcut keys How to Set a Folder to Save Screen Shots on Mac. How to Take Screen Shot Via Terminal On Mac Step 1. Click on Finder. Go to Applications Utilities and then launch Terminal. Type following command in Terminal.
• Command Key (⌘) + Shift + 4, then hit spacebar. When you press 3 combination keys a plus sign will appear, then press the spacebar, a Camera icon will appear when you click your mouse button, only the active window screen will be captured, the screenshot will be saved to Clipboard. Taking Screenshots on macOS.

Mac Os Screen

How to Change Where Screenshots are Saved on a Mac

There are two ways to change the defaultscreenshot save directory on a Mac, depending on your operating system. Theeasier way is through the Screenshot app in macOS Mojave. For mac OS HighSierra or earlier, you have to use Terminal, an app for entering commandprompts to control your Mac. Below are the steps for each operating system.

Steps capture screenshot as PDF or JPEG in Mac OS X. Open Terminal: While you are in Finder press Shift,⌘,A to open Applications and then click on Terminal. You can also open Launchpad and search for Terminal. Now in terminal run below commands to change the screen-capture format to.pdf. Defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf. The Mac OS has built-in functions for screen capturing, they are reached through keyboard combinations such as Command, Shift and 3 or 4, however, the Grab app is much more powerful, and includes different image formats, a timer screenshot function, and more. Screen recording can be used to film a tutorial, show your friends what you’re looking at, or just save what’s happening on your screen. Your Mac has built-in tools that allow you to take.

How to Change Where Screenshots are Saved in macOS Mojave or Later

1. Go to the Utilities folder and open the Screenshot app. You can also open the Screenshot app by pressing Command + Shift + 5.
2. Click Options. The top tile of the menu will show your Save to options:
   • Desktop – This is the default setting which saves the screenshot with the following time format: Screen Shot [date] at [time].
   • Documents – This will save the screenshot to your Documents folder with the time and date as the file name.
   • Clipboard – This will allow you to paste the screenshot to another app which can edit or view images.
   • Mail – This lets you compose a new email in the Mail app with the screenshot attached.
   • Messages – This will attach the screenshot to a message which you can send to a contact.
   • Preview – This will launch Preview, a photo editing app. Your Mac will temporarily name the image file as Untitled until you change it to a different file name.
   • Other Location – This will allow you to navigate outside of the locations previously listed to a folder of your choice. You can save to an existing folder or create a new one.
3. Choose a Save To option. Your Mac will remember the last one you have selected and will apply this to subsequent screenshots.

How to Change the Default Screenshot Save Location in macOS High Sierra or Earlier

1. Open Terminal. You can find the Terminal app in the Utilities folder.
2. Type the following command, followed by a space:

   Note: Make sure to put a space after the word location, otherwise the command won’t work.

3. Drag the folder you want to save to into the Terminal command box. You will see that the file path will now be inserted as another command line in Terminal.
4. Press Enter on your keyboard.
5. Then type the following command:
6. Press Enter or Return. The next time you take a screenshot, it will be saved to the new folder you have created instead of the desktop.

How to Change a Screenshot to JPG and Other File Formats

By default, Macs save screenshots as PNG files, which are usually larger than JPG files. Both can be used for social media, but JPGs are more universally accepted. To save a screenshot as a JPG, use the Terminal to override the default format setting.

1. Open Terminal.
2. Type the following command, followed by a space: You can also choose to save your screenshots as other formats by default. You can save them as PDF files if you want to edit or open the image in Adobe. You can save them as TIFF files if you want to retain their original image data even after manipulating the image. Or you can save them as GIF files if you want the image to load quickly on the web. Just choose any of the following commands, followed by a space:

   Note: Make sure to put a space after the file type, otherwise the command won’t work.

3. Hit Enter. The command will be saved to Terminal.
4. Test to see if the default option has been changed. Take a screenshot then right-click on the image. Choose Get Info from the contextual menu, then check what is written under “Kind” in the General section.

Once you know how to change the default screenshot settings on your Mac, you’ll be able to customize and improve the way you work with screenshots. Taking a screenshot on a Mac also takes some getting used to, especially for Windows users who are used to hitting the Print Screen key. If you need to improve your screenshot skills, check out our article about how to take a screenshot on a Mac.

Screen Capture Mac Os Terminals

Mac Screen Capture Tool