Change the Screenshot Save Location on macOS

macOS saves screenshots to the Desktop by default. If you capture screenshots frequently, moving them to a dedicated folder can keep the Desktop organized.

Version context: These commands reflect macOS behavior from the period when this article was written. The preference key remains useful historically, but newer macOS versions also provide screenshot-location controls through the Screenshot utility.

Set a Custom Screenshot Folder

First create the destination directory, for example:

~/Documents/MyScreenshots

Then open Terminal and run:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Documents/MyScreenshots
killall SystemUIServer

New screenshots should now be written to the configured directory. Create the target folder before changing the preference; otherwise macOS may continue using the existing location.

Restore the Desktop Location

To return to the default Desktop location, run:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop
killall SystemUIServer

Takeaway

A small system preference change can keep repeated screenshots out of the Desktop and place them in a predictable working directory.