The screenshot function on Macbooks and Macs is a hugely useful way to snip some information from your screen really quickly, but one thing that can be slightly annoying about it is where the image is saved.
By default it’ll go straight to your desktop, which can quickly get cluttered with these images, making it hard to tell which is the newest. Here’s how to change that, since it isn’t as obvious as you’d think – as you know, since your search for answers has brought you here!
How to change the default save location for screenshots on Mac
You might take screenshots on your Mac in a few different ways, with keyboard shortcuts for example, but to change the save location we’ll need the full Screenshot app open.
You can either open this by hitting Command-Space and typing in Screenshot to see the app, or by using Shift-Command-5 on your keyboard to open it directly.
Once it’s open you’ll see a toolbar of options, letting you take whole-screen snips or draw smaller portions that you want to capture, which is handy.
The setting we want is under the Options button, which pops up a menu including a list of locations that the app can “Save to”.
If the location you prefer is already on that list, just click on it to change the destination, but you can also click on Other Location… if you want to specify a given folder or location on your Mac.
Once you’ve chosen the location, it’s job done – and the change will apply to every screenshot you take moving forward, whether it’s from a keyboard shortcut or using the full app.
Of course, if you decide that you’d like to change it again, you can do so by following the same steps as before.