Trouble changing screenshot location with El Capitan

The reason that Terminal command is not working is that it expects an argument to follow the word location

Try it again but drag the path to the screenshot destination after that word.

Example:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop

... will restore the default location to the Desktop.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures

... will deposit screenshots into your Pictures folder. Etc.

If you don't specify a location the result will be

iMac22:~ john$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture location
2025-07-09 15:03:45.485 defaults[16898:3464638] 
Rep argument is not a dictionary
Defaults have not been changed.
iMac22:~ john$ 

> Mugs-MacBook-Pro-15:~ MacBk15$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture location/Users/MacBk15/Desktop/Desktop\ stuff/Screenshots15 

No. You're missing a space. The command needs a space between 'location' and the actual path you want to use. The shell uses spaces to separate out parts of the command.

Try:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/MacBk15/Desktop/Desktop\ stuff/Screenshots15 

What do you get if you run:

defaults read com.apple.screencapture

?

Just post it here. Even if you don't understand it, someone here might notice something amiss.

There's nothing in the output that should be personal or private, and it might indicate a problem.

Also, a screenshot of what you're doing might also help - about the only thing that I can think might cause this problem is one of spaces in the command line (the shell is very sensitive to spaces) - there needs to be one space after the word 'location', and the path can't have any spaces, unless they're quoted or escaped (which should happen automatically if you drag and drop the folder)

So is it fixed now?

If not may I suggest not using space characters for the folder titled "Desktop stuff". There is nothing at all wrong with using space characters for anything you want to do with a Mac, but it caused needless confusion in the Terminal commands you had been using since Terminal uses them to separate commands from arguments.

Camelot's instructions work as posted.

1. Did you in fact rename the destination folder, so that it is now "DesktopStuff" instead of "Desktop stuff" bearing in mind things like capitalization and spelling are of critical importance when using Terminal?
2. Did you restart the Mac after applying the correct defaults write command?

A little late now, but did you back up your Mac prior to making any changes to its file system and / or following some random Terminal instructions you might find floating around on the Internet? That ought to go without saying.

I type in “defaults read com.apple.screencapture” I get a long list of p.list references that I don’t understand.

No one is expecting you to understand it. Just post it.

Mug wrote:

I have changed the screenshot location before on my Macbook Pro with El Capitan using the Terminal. I just changed the name of my screenshots folder and tried to change the location in Terminal, and it won’t take it.

...

Does anyone know what I am doing wrong?

Without knowing the Terminal command you used, no.

why do you feel that it is necessary to use terminal to change your "save to" location? can you not do it within the app itself?

you can use the keyboard shortcut "shift-command-5" to bring up the recording controls. then choose "options".

and then, in those options, you can try and change your "save to" location.

but FWIW, I have, in the past, encountered issues with longer recordings stopping / not saving unexpectedly whenever I have selected anything other than "desktop" as my "save to" location. this has been especially true when "save to" is set to an external drive. so I now use "desktop" as my "save to" every time and afterwards I move them to my desired location manually. I haven't had an issue since.

Mug wrote:

To jeffreythefrog:

Prior to Mojave, the terminal program was the way the screenshot folder was selected.

well the terminal may be another option, but I don't think it is your only option. AFAICR, even back on El Capitan, using the "shift+command+5 shortcut options would be the easiest way to choose your "save to" location. are you saying that it is not working for you?