Changing Mac default screenshot file format to jpg

In case if you don’t already know, OS X screenshots created with the Shift + Command + 5 keys are pngs by default. However, pngs are not compatible with GatsbyJS! And I wanted to have the option of creating screenshots for use on GatsbyJS sites. I thought, there has to be a way of changing the default screenshot format! And guess what! There is.

If you want to change the default format for screenshots created with the Shift + Command + 5 keys on Big Sur (or even earlier), run the following command in Terminal (iTerm2 for me) and then press the return key:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg;killall SystemUIServer

It is required that you run this command in Terminal in order to implement the change. Yet another reason why it is so important to learn how to use the Command Line Interface (Terminal program).

I found this information in the post entitled How to Change the Screenshot File Format to JPG on Mac on the website maketecheasier.com. It also covers changing the default png format to GIF, TIFF, PDF, and reverting back to the original screenshot file format (png). Don’t freak out if you see mention of using the Command + Shift + 3 keys as the keyboard shortcut. When you use the 3 key, it captures your entire screen, which you probably don’t want. The 5 key allows you to select the part of your screen you want to capture, especially if you only want to capture the exact dimensions of a browser tab/window. You can also make a screen recording with the same keyboard shortcut. Instead of selecting screen capture, you would select screen recording. I wrote a post exactly about that entitled How to take a screenshot on your Mac (Mojave or later). It covers how to make screen recordings as well.

Happy screen capture!

Related Resources

• How to Change the Screenshot File Format to JPG on Mac

• How to take a screenshot on your Mac (Mojave or later)

• Techopedia Explains Command Line Interface (CLI)