Note: This site is currently "Under construction". I'm migrating to a new version of my site building software. Lots of things are in a state of disrepair as a result (for example, footnote links aren't working). It's all part of the process of building in public. Most things should still be readable though.

Changing the screenshot directory on a Mac

On Macs, there are two great hot-key combinations that can be used for doing screen captures.

- command + shift + 3 = full screen capture - command + shift + 4 = a partial screen capture based on a box you draw.

By default, when you make a grab with these commands the output files are saved directly to your desktop. If you have a messy desktop, they can be hard to find. Using a little command line magic, you can change this output location to any directory you choose. The command itself is:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /output/path/directory

You would just need to change "/output/path/directory" to the location where you want the screen grabs to go.

I got found this command on this page from the Mac Developer Tips site. Just putting it here so that I can find it easier in case I ever need it again.