Where macOS saves screenshots
Unless you changed it, screenshots go to the Desktop as PNG files named with the date and time they were taken, like Screenshot 2026-10-03 at 09.14.22.png. The shortcuts:
- Shift-Command-3: the whole screen.
- Shift-Command-4: drag to select an area. Press Space afterwards to capture a single window.
- Shift-Command-5: the Screenshot toolbar, with screen recording and Options.
Can’t find a screenshot?
- Check the Desktop first, then the “Save to” setting in Shift-Command-5 > Options.
- In Finder, search for
Screenshotand sort by Date Created. - If the screenshot went to the clipboard (you held Control), it was never saved as a file: paste it into Preview with File > New from Clipboard.
Change where screenshots are saved
Press Shift-Command-5, click Options, and under “Save to” choose a folder, or Other Location to pick any folder, such as a Screenshots folder in Pictures. From then on, every screenshot goes there.
If you prefer Terminal, this does the same (make the folder first):
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots && killall SystemUIServer
Keep screenshots findable
A folder of files named by the minute is hard to search: the name says when, not what. Lisorto helps with both.
- It reads the text on your screenshots on your Mac, so you can find one from the menu bar by a word on it: a booking number, a name, an error message. Free.
- Screenshots get their own Space, a plain folder in Finder, instead of piling up on the Desktop.
- With Lisorto Pro, each screenshot gets a name after what it shows, and a screenshot of a receipt goes to Bills and receipts, a booking to Travel.
- Screenshots with passwords on them keep their names and stay out of search.
See Lisorto for screenshots for examples.