Change the Mac screenshot save location

macOS drops screenshots on the Desktop unless you tell it otherwise. That fills the Desktop, and it is a folder some background tools cannot read without Full Disk Access. Move the save location.

Set a new folder

mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer

1. mkdir -p creates the folder if it is missing.
2. defaults write com.apple.screencapture location stores an absolute path in the screenshot preference domain.
3. killall SystemUIServer reloads the service that honors that key. You do not need to log out.

Take a screenshot. It should land in the new folder, not on the Desktop.

See the current location

defaults read com.apple.screencapture location

If that key is unset, macOS uses ~/Desktop. That is also what ocrogram watches: it reads this preference, then falls back to Desktop.

Reset to Desktop

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location
killall SystemUIServer

Why ocrogram cares

The daemon only watches one folder. If you change the location after ocrogram start, run ocrogram stop && ocrogram start so it picks up the new path. Watching Desktop often needs Full Disk Access. A folder under Pictures usually does not. That is the workaround in troubleshooting when nothing lands on the clipboard.

Next: install ocrogram so each new file in that folder becomes clipboard text.