July 26, 2026
How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots

How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots

Posted June 19, 2012 at 12:23am by
These are instructions on how to change the default save location of OS X screenshots to a folder of your choice. By default Apple has screenshots save to your desktop.

Step One
Launch Terminal from the Applications:Utilities folder.
How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots

Step Two
Input defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Scratch into the Terminal window changing '~/Scratch' to a folder of your choice and then press Return.
How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots

Step Three
Input killall SystemUIServer into the Terminal window and press Return to make the changes immediate.
How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots


Undo
To undo these changes simply follow them again using this command to change the save location: defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop
How to Change the Default Save Location for OS X Screenshots
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