Change the Default Screen Shot File Name in Mac OS X
Feb 16, 2012 - 6 Comments
Screen shots taken in Mac OS X save to files prefixed with “Screen Shot” in the file name, but this can be changed with a defaults write command to anything else.
Change the Default File Name of Screen Shots
- Launch the Terminal and type the following command, replacing “OSXDaily” with the file name you wish to use
- Now restart SystemUIServer by killing it from the command line:
- Take a screen shot to confirm the file name has been changed from default to the custom name
defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "OSXDaily"
killall SystemUIServer
Only new screen shots will be effected by this change, existing screenshot file names will remain the same.
Return to Default Screen Shot File Names
- Again from the Terminal, type the following command”
defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "Screen Shot" - Again restart SystemUIServer by killing it
- Confirm the file names have returned to the default by printing a screen shot to the Mac OS X desktop with Command+Shift+3
killall SystemUIServer
Other than changing file names, you can also change where screen shots save to and change file type to a format other than the PNG default.
Thanks to MacTrast for the tip.
In the line…..
killall SytemUIServer
should be
killall SystemUIServer
?
Oops, you are right, thanks for catching the typo.
I would rather use this
$ps -ef | grep [S]ystemUI | awk ‘{print $2}’
25116
$kill -HUP #PID fetched from above command#
The tip is well intentioned but really does not solve the issue of hte long filename that comes after “screen shot” or “OSXDaily”. In other words, you still have OSXDaily 2012-02-16 at 8.22.AM.jpg or whatever file format you have chosen.
A tip that would change the entire filename would be great.
Also, Onyx allows you easily to make a change in image format (jpeg vs png vs other), whether you would like a shadow or not, the location and the first part of the filename as well. The area for these selections is in Parameters menu item in Onyx.
I agree with Stephen, it would be great to chance the entire naming convention. I would most prefer a different way to write the date, namely YYYYMMDD.HHmm.
I would make it: perezfox_screen_20120216.1155.png, for example.
You don’t have to use:
killall SystemUIServer
The command takes affect right away.