Screenshots on a Mac are saved to the Desktop by default, as PNG files whose names start with “Screenshot” followed by the date and time. To change the folder, press ⇧ ⌘ 5, click Options, and pick a place under Save to. Add Control to any shortcut to copy instead.
The default: your Desktop
When you use a screenshot shortcut, macOS saves the file to your Desktop. The name starts with “Screenshot”, followed by the date and time you took it. Screenshots are PNG files. Screen recordings are saved the same way as .mov files, with names starting “Screen Recording”.
To jump to the Desktop folder in the Finder, press ⇧ ⌘ D.
If you turned on Store in iCloud for Desktop and Documents, your Desktop lives in iCloud Drive. Your screenshots still appear on the Desktop, and they are also stored in iCloud.
The screenshot shortcuts
- Whole screen: press ⇧ ⌘ 3.
- Part of the screen: press ⇧ ⌘ 4, then drag the crosshair over the area and let go.
- One window or menu: open it, press ⇧ ⌘ 4, then press Space. Click the window or menu. Hold Option as you click to leave out the window's shadow.
- All the tools in one place: press ⇧ ⌘ 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar. It also handles screen recordings.
After a capture, a small thumbnail floats in the bottom-right corner for a few seconds. Click it to mark it up or share it. Drag it straight into an email, a document or a Finder window. Swipe it to the right to save it right away.
Change where screenshots are saved
A Desktop full of screenshots gets messy fast. You can send them to a folder of their own.
- Make a folder for them first, for example “Screenshots” inside Documents.
- Press ⇧ ⌘ 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
- Click Options.
- Under Save to, pick one of the listed places, or click Other Location and choose your new folder.
- Press Esc to close the toolbar. New screenshots now go to that folder.
The same Options menu has a Timer, a switch for Show Floating Thumbnail, and Remember Last Selection. On supported Macs with macOS Tahoe 26 or later, it also lets you choose a format: SDR (Most Compatible), which uses PNG, or HDR, which uses HEIF.
The Screenshot app was added in macOS Mojave 10.14. You can also find it in the Utilities folder inside Applications.
Copy a screenshot to the clipboard instead
If you only want to paste a screenshot into a chat or a document, you don't need a file at all.
- Hold Control while you press the shortcut. For example, ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 4 copies an area, and ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 3 copies the whole screen.
- Click where you want the image and press ⌘ V.
Nothing is saved to the Desktop.
Find old screenshots
Because every screenshot's name starts the same way, they are easy to round up.
- Press ⌘ Space and type
Screenshot. On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, press ⌘ 2 first to search only files. - For a full list, open a Finder window and press ⌘ F. Type
Screenshotand choose the suggestion for a name match. - Switch to List view and sort by date or size.
- Click Save to keep this search as a Smart Folder. It will update itself as you take more.
If you changed the save location in the past, check that folder too. Older screenshots stay wherever they were first saved.
If a screenshot seems to be missing
- The thumbnail was still showing. With Show Floating Thumbnail on, the file is saved once the thumbnail goes away. Swipe it to the right to save it at once.
- You held Control. The screenshot went to the clipboard, not to a file. Paste it with ⌘ V into a document or email to use it.
- The save location changed. Press ⇧ ⌘ 5 and click Options. The place with a checkmark under Save to is where new screenshots go.
- Your Desktop is in iCloud. If Store in iCloud is on, open iCloud Drive in the Finder sidebar and look in its Desktop folder.
Clearing out old screenshots with FileShelf
FileShelf is a Mac file library for the folders you choose. Its Clean Up view groups old screenshots along with forgotten downloads and installers, so you can review them before you decide. Move the ones you don't need to the Trash, and press ⌘ Z if you change your mind.
7 days free, then pay once.