Save screenshots to a folder instead of cluttering the desktop — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

Every screenshot lands on the desktop by default, which gets messy fast. You can send them to any folder (for example Pictures/Screenshots), or straight to the clipboard, from the Screenshot toolbar.

Takes effect right away

The easy way

  1. The easy way: press Shift + Command + 5, click Options, and pick a location under Save to (or choose Other Location).
  2. Or in Terminal, create the folder first (mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots) and run the command.

Command

Run in Terminal (Applications › Utilities).

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string ~/Pictures/Screenshots; killall SystemUIServer

Undo

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location; killall SystemUIServer
Only new screenshots go to the new folder; existing ones stay where they are.

Sources

Source reviewed
2026-11-02
Link checked
2026-11-02
Tested hands-on
Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

screenshotsave locationdesktop clutterfolder

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