Mac Tip: Change The File Name Of Your Screenshots

This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.


How To: Change The File Name Of Your Screenshots

Are you tired of seeing every screen shot you take being called Screen shot…

Well you can change it to another name. In my case I have changed it to my site name.

You can change these one by one as you take the screen shots in the Finder window but the method I am about to present to you will change them completely for each and every shot you take.

In order to do this we will need to use Terminal. To locate Terminal simply navigate to Applications > Utilities and within the Utilities folder you will locate Terminal.

Simply launch and then enter the following followed by return:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name “everydaymacsupport”

Then type the following followed by return:

killall SystemUIServer

As you can see the information contained within the inverted commas will be the new name title. If you leave this blank with only the inverted commas and no additional text or spaces then your screenshots will simply showcase the date and time as shown below:

Should you wish to return this back to the default Screen shot then all you need to do is follow the following instructions:

Simply launch Terminal and then enter the following followed by return:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name “Screen shot”

Then type the following followed by return:

killall SystemUIServer

 

Warning: Terminal commands have the ability to change the running operation of your Mac. Please copy and paste the Terminal command as shown directly from the article. Mistakes in keystokes can cause your Mac to perform differently and may in-fact result in a loss of data. It is advised that you only use the Terminal if you feel comfortable with the command line interface. If you are ever unsure please consult your local tech support person.

Mark Greentree

Mark Greentree is the principle blogger and podcast creator of Everyday Mac Support. His aim is to inform users at all levels of experience how to get the most out of the Apple hardware and associated software. He is the lead host of Not Another Mac Podcast, an Apple based round table discussion with Mac users and experts from all over world.