How do you configure a Mac to save screenshots to a specific directory?

I take a lot of screenshots. Instead of dropping those on the Desktop, which is the current Mac default, I want to put those into a Screenshots folder inside my home folder. To do that I need to start by creating the Screenshots directory.

• Open Finder and select Go to Folder… from the Go menu.
• Type ~ and press enter.
• Create the Screenshots folder.
• Drag the Screenshots folder into the Favorites list in Finder.

In addition, you may want to save your home folder into Favorites.

• Open Finder and select Go to Folder… from the Go menu.
• Type /Users and press enter.
• Drag your username over to Favorites.

Finally, to configure your Mac to save screenshots to a directory follow these steps:

• Open the Terminal app. You’ll find it in the Utilities folder under Applications.
• Run the following command in the Terminal window:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /path/to/new/folder

• Replace “/path/to/new/folder” with the actual path to the folder you created in the first step. You can drag and drop the folder into the Terminal window to get its path.
• Press the Enter key to execute the command. You won’t see any output in the Terminal window.
• Type the following command to apply the changes:

killall SystemUIServer

• Press the Enter key to execute the command. This will restart the SystemUIServer, which is responsible for handling screenshots.

From now on, when you take a screenshot using the keyboard shortcuts (Command-Shift-3 for a full-screen screenshot, or Command-Shift-4 for a selection screenshot), the screenshot will be saved to the folder you specified.

Written in Nolific by Joel Dare on April 26, 2023

Joel's Newsletter

Get a monthly digest of what I'm up to.

Subscribe by Email