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 post will show you how you can change this default file type.
Change Default File Type
Open Terminal: Finder > Applications > Utilities
In Terminal, type or paste one of the following…
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPGJPG Joint Photographic Experts Group [raster format]
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PDFPDF Portable Document Format [vector format]
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type PNGPNG Portable Network Graphics [raster format]
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type TIFFTIFF Tagged Image File Format [raster format]
(return)
Originally posted 11 January, 2025. Updated 27 July, 2026.
