How to change the Screenshot File Format to JPG or any other format on MacOS.

MacOS is a great system, built on great hardware. But with that hardware comes high-resolution Retina Displays which is a good thing.

However if you’re taking a lot of screenshots on MacOS, you’ll find the default file format is PNG.

PNG is excellent for retaining image quality, but has a high file size.

How to

It’s easy to change the file format using the below commands in Terminal.

1. Open Terminal from the Applications window.
   
   
   
2. Enter the following commands to change the file format.
   
   
   
3. Take your screenshot and you’ll notice the new format (and smaller file size).
   Command + Shift + 4

Change to JPG

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

Change to GIF

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

Change to TIFF

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

Change to PDF

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

Revert back to PNG

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