How to change the screenshots save file location in MacOS X

How to change screenshot save location

The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Open the terminal Application

Press Command–Space to open Spotlight and type terminal

Step 2: Use defaults command to change screenshot file location

The syntax is:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /path/to/save/screenshots/
killall SystemUIServer

To save the screenshots in $HOME/screenshots/ folder, enter:

mkdir $HOME/screenshots/
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location $HOME/screenshots/
killall SystemUIServer

Sample outputs:

Fig.01: How to Change Where Screen Shots Save on MacOS X

Step 3: Verify it

Now take screenshot as described above and you should see the screenshots saved in $HOME/screenshots/ location:
$ ls $HOME/screenshots/
-rw-r--r--@ 1 veryv staff 82674 Jan 3 22:23 Screen Shot 2017-01-03 at 10.23.27 PM.png

How do I revert back to original settings?

Type the following two commands to save back the screenshots in ~/Desktop/, enter:

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

Tip: Change file name of screen shots on MacOS X

By default, screen shots taken in MacOS X save to files prefixed with “Screen Shot” in the file name. You can change file name prefix something else. The syntax is as follows:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "nixCraft"
killall SystemUIServe
ls ~/screenshots/

Sample outputs:

nixCraft 2017-01-03 at 10.32.37 PM.png

You can revert back to original prefix by typing the following two commands:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "Screen Shot"
killall SystemUIServe

And there, you have it. No more desktops cluttered with images on MacOS.