When taking screenshots on a Mac, macOS displays a small thumbnail preview in the corner of the screen. While this feature can be useful for quick edits or sharing, some users may find it distracting or unnecessary. If you prefer a cleaner workflow without these previews, you can disable them using either system settings or Terminal commands.
Disabling via System Settings
The simplest way to disable screenshot thumbnail previews is through macOS’s built-in system preferences. Follow these steps:
If you find the floating thumbnail previews that appear after taking screenshots on your Mac distracting, you can disable them:
- Press Command (⌘) + Shift + 5 to open the screenshot toolbar
- Click the Options button in the toolbar
- Uncheck “Show Floating Thumbnail”
- Close the options menu
Your preference will be saved automatically, and future screenshots won’t show the thumbnail preview.
Using Terminal to Disable Thumbnail Previews
For advanced users or those comfortable with command-line tools, Terminal provides a more direct way to disable screenshot thumbnail previews. Here’s how:
- Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities or by searching via Spotlight.
- Enter the following command and press Return:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool false - To apply the changes, restart the system UI by entering:
killall SystemUIServer
This command modifies a system preference file to disable the thumbnail preview feature. If you ever want to re-enable it, simply replace false with true in the command.
Customizing Screenshot Behavior Further
Beyond disabling thumbnail previews, macOS allows you to customize other aspects of screenshot behavior. For example, you can change the default save location, file format, or even disable the shadow effect for window screenshots.
To explore these options, open Terminal and use commands like defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop to change the save location or defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg to modify the file format.
Why Disable Thumbnail Previews?
Disabling thumbnail previews can be beneficial for several reasons. For instance, if you frequently take multiple screenshots in quick succession, the previews can interrupt your workflow. Additionally, users who prefer to manage screenshots manually may find the previews redundant.
Moreover, disabling this feature can improve performance on older Macs or systems with limited resources, as it reduces the number of graphical elements being rendered.
Reverting to Default Settings
If you decide to re-enable thumbnail previews or revert to macOS’s default screenshot settings, you can do so easily. For system preferences, simply recheck the Show Floating Thumbnail option. For Terminal, use the command defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool true followed by killall SystemUIServer.
This flexibility ensures that you can tailor macOS’s screenshot behavior to your specific needs without permanently altering the system.