When you take several screenshots consecutively, the filenames of those images can be confusing. Luckily, you can change the filename and the location to a specific folder. Here’s how to change the file name and download location for screenshots on your Mac.
How to Change Screenshot File Name
Usually, the macOS saves the screenshot’s filen name with ‘Screenshot Date Time’ format. At times, it’s difficult to recollect specific batch of screenshots and you’d want to use specific names. Here’s how to change the screenshot files names as they get saved on your Mac. Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type Terminal, and press Return
Step 2: Type the following command and press Return. You can replace the name GT with the one you wish for the screenshots:
Step 3: Type the following command and press Return:
Close the Terminal window and now you will notice the new file name of screenshots on your Mac. You will still see the Date and Time of the screenshot along with your new file name.
Bonus Tip – How to Use Default Screenshot File Name on Mac
If you want to revert to using the default file name for the screenshots on your Mac, here’s how to do it using Terminal. Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type Terminal, and press Return.
Step 2: Type the following command and press Return:
If you use an older version of macOS and OS X, you can use ‘Screen Shot’ instead of ‘Screenshot’ in the command mentioned above.
How to Change Download Location on Mac
The Downloads folder is where all the screenshots are stored by default on your Mac. With time you will have a lot of other files stored in the Downloads folder. So it may get difficult for you to find your screenshots. Therefore, we will now share the steps to change the download location for your screenshots on Mac.
Use Screenshot Utility to Change Download Location
Here’s how to set a folder as the destination for saving screenshots on your Mac. Step 1: Press Command + Shift + 5 keys to open the Screenshot Utility. Step 2: Click on Options in the Screenshot toolbar.
Step 3: Under Save To, select your location from the default options.
To select a folder on your Mac, select Other Location. Step 4: Add a new folder or select an existing one. Then, click on Choose button at the bottom-right side.
That’ll select a new location to save screenshots. You can follow the same steps for reverting to the previous default location for saving your screenshots.
Use Terminal to Change Download Location
This is an advanced method, and we advise using this only if you are not satisfied with the previous one that uses Screenshot Utility. Here’s how you can change the download location for screenshots using the Terminal app. Step 1: Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search, type Terminal, and press Return.
Step 2: Type the following command and press Return.
Instead of “Downloads”, you can enter the name of your preferred location for saving the screenshots. Step 3: To apply the changes, type the following command and press Return.
Close the window and Mac will save your screenshots in the new download location. If you want to revert to the previous default location, open the Terminal app and use the following command.
Once done, type the following command to apply the changes.
Manage Your Screenshots
These tips can help you manage your screenshots after capturing them on Mac. You can capture your entire screen or a part of your screen. But these are limited to your display’s viewing area on Mac. That’s why Apple introduced the feature of scrolling screenshots from the release of macOS Mojave. If you want to avoid taking multiple screenshots of the same webpage, you can use some amazing tools to capture scrolling screenshots on your Mac. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
