This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.
How To: Change The Location Of Saved Screenshots
Okay, I have finally had enough. I take a large volume of screenshots and I can’t take it anymore.
I am of course referring to all of the screenshots cluttering up my desktop which besides being a mess does impact on system performance especially at startup.
The way to change this is via a Terminal command.
In order to do this we will need to use Terminal. To locate Terminal simply navigate to Applications > Utilities. Within the Utilities folder you will locate Terminal.
Simply launch and then enter the following:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Screenshots
After you have pressed return simply enter the following then press return again once you have entered:
killall SystemUIServer
Upon pressing return the settings will be changed and upon take a screenshot with Command-Shift-3 for example the associated file will be saved in the Screenshots folder I have created.
To put them into a folder such as pictures simply change ~/Screenshots to ~/Pictures
Warning: Terminal commands have the ability to change the running operation of your Mac. Please copy and paste the Terminal command as shown directly from the article. Mistakes in keystokes can cause your Mac to perform differently and may in-fact result in a loss of data. It is advised that you only use the Terminal if you feel comfortable with the command line interface. If you are ever unsure please consult your local tech support person.
