Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

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Win + Prt Scrn is one of the new cool Windows 8 features I like the most. Simply pressing it takes a screenshot of the whole desktop and saves it in PNG format on your computer, so you don’t have to use the old school copy/paste to save the screen file. The default location to save these Win+PrtScrn taken screenshots is at %UserProfile%\Pictures\Screenshots folder in your own user profile. And you can change it to another folder to better serve your own purpose. For example, you can change the default location to a folder in your Dropbox or SkyDrive storage so that every screenshot you take using Win+PrtScrn can be automatically backed up to the cloud.

To change the default Screenshots location

1. Navigate to the Pictures folder in Windows Explorer. If you are not sure how you can simply press Win+R to bring up the Run window, type %userprofile%\pictures into the box and press Enter.

Windows 8 Pictures folder thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

2. Right-click Screenshots folder, and choose Properties. Then, go to Location tab in the Properties window, and click Move… button.

Screenshot folder properties location tab thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

3. Navigate to the folder you want to switch over to, and click Select Folder button to save the selection and back to the Folder Properties window.

Screenshots folder move dialog box thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

4. A confirmation window will pop up after you click OK or Apply to make the change. Click Yes, if you are happy with the change and want to go ahead.

Screenshots folder move folder confirmation thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

5. Done. From this point on, every screenshot I take by pressing Win + Prt Scrn will be saved to the new location with the same format in PNG. And because the new folder is in my Dropbox, all screenshots will be automatically synced to the cloud.

To change back to the default

Now, if you change mind and want to switch it back to the way it was, you can do so through a similar process.

1. Navigate to the new location you changed previously in Windows Explorer.

2. Right click the Screenshots folder, and choose Properties.

3. Go to Location tab, simply click Restore Default button.

Screenshots folder location tab thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

4. Click Yes on the Create Folder popup, since the original Screenshots folder had been moved to the location earlier.

Screenshots folder Create Folder popup thumb - Windows 8 Tip: How To Change Default Screenshots File Location

5. Click Yes on the similar Move Folder confirmation dialog window.

6. Done. You are now back to the default. From this point on, all new screenshots taken by Win+Prt Scrn method will be saved in the default Screenshots location.

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