Tidy and find

How to rename screenshots automatically on a Mac

Updated 25 October 2026 · 3 min read

macOS names every screenshot by date and time. Here is how to change the prefix and save folder with Terminal, batch-rename in Finder, and have Orrel name each one after the words on screen.

Every screenshot macOS saves is called something like Screenshot 2026-10-13 at 09.41.11.png. That is unique, which is the point, but after a month you have dozens of files whose names say nothing about what is in them.

Change the save folder

Press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and under Save to pick a folder or choose Other Location. Keeping screenshots in their own folder does not improve the names, but it keeps them out of the way and makes the next steps easier.

Change the name prefix with Terminal

macOS keeps the word at the start of screenshot names in a preference you can change. Open Terminal and run:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "Capture"
killall SystemUIServer

New screenshots then start with "Capture" instead of "Screenshot", with the date and time after it. To go back, run defaults delete com.apple.screencapture name followed by killall SystemUIServer.

This only changes the fixed word. Every file still differs only by its timestamp.

Rename a batch in Finder

For an existing pile, Finder can rename many files at once. Select them, Control-click and choose Rename. Three modes are offered:

• Replace Text. Swap "Screenshot" for something else across every name.
• Add Text. Put a word before or after each name, such as a project.
• Format. Replace the names with a base name and a counter or date, such as "Invoice review 1, 2, 3".

This is fast when the files belong together. It cannot give each screenshot its own descriptive name, because Finder does not know what is in them.

Rename one as you take it

The simplest fix is to name a screenshot straight after you take it: click it on the desktop, press Return, type a name and press Return again. If you only keep a few screenshots a week, that habit alone solves the problem. It is the dozens you take while working that never get named.

How Orrel does it

Orrel reads the text in each screenshot on your Mac with Apple Vision and uses the largest line of text, usually a heading or window title, as the name. With the Screenshots template switched on, Tidy proposes a move such as:

Screenshot 2026-10-13 at 09.41.11.png → Screenshots/2026-10/2026-10-13 Design review notes.png

The date stays at the front so files still sort in order, and each month gets its own folder. You see every rename before it happens, and any run can be undone. Screenshots are recognised from the marker macOS writes into them, not only from the file name, so it works in any language.

The text is kept too, which means you can search for a screenshot by what it showed. Orrel's own capture shortcuts, ⇧⌘2 for an area and ⌥⇧⌘2 for a window, open the markup editor first, so you can add arrows or blur a password before the file goes anywhere.

Where Orrel stops

A name taken from the largest text is a good guess, not a summary. Photos, diagrams and screenshots with very little text keep a plain dated name. Text recognition can misread small or stylised type. Renaming happens when Tidy runs, after your waiting period, not the instant you press the shortcut, and only for screenshots on the desktop and in Downloads.