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Terminal Hacks - Set Screenshot's Default File Type

When using the macOS Screenshot application, screenshots are saved as PNG images (.png files) by default. This LectroHack will show you how you can change this default file type.

James Pearson

11 Jan 2025 • 1 min read

LECTROHACK #6 Terminal Hacks: Set Screenshot's Default File Type artwork.

Change Default File Type

Open Terminal: Finder > Applications > Utilities

In Terminal, type or paste one of the following…

_{JPG Joint Photographic Experts Group [raster format]}
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG

_{PDF Portable Document Format [vector format]}
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PDF

_{PNG Portable Network Graphics [raster format]}
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PNG

_{TIFF Tagged Image File Format [raster format]}
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type TIFF

(return)

_{Originally posted 11 January, 2025.}