Change Mac screenshot format to JPG, PNG, or TIFF

Mac screenshots default to PNG — lossless quality, but large files. Switching to JPG cuts the file size dramatically. TIFF keeps every pixel. PDF is handy for presentations. Here's how to change the format, and which one to pick.

Change format in the Screenshot app (macOS Mojave and later)

The Screenshot toolbar added a format picker in macOS Mojave:

1. Press ⌘⇧5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
2. Click Options.
3. At the bottom of the Options menu, select your format: PNG, JPG, PDF, TIFF, or GIF (availability varies by macOS version).

Your choice takes effect immediately for all subsequent screenshots.

Change format via Terminal

The format is stored in the com.apple.screencapture type preference:

# switch to JPG (smaller files, slightly lossy)
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
killall SystemUIServer

Other valid values:

# lossless, larger files (default)
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png

# uncompressed lossless, very large files
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type tiff

# good for multi-page content
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf

# animated GIF — mostly useful for screen recordings
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type gif

To revert to PNG (the macOS default):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
killall SystemUIServer

Which format should you use?

The right choice depends on what you do with the screenshots:

• PNG — best for developers, designers, and anyone who needs pixel-perfect accuracy. Text and UI elements stay sharp. Default for a reason.
• JPG — good for sharing via email, Slack, or Notion where file size matters. Quality is very good at the default compression level; most people can't tell the difference for UI screenshots. A typical PNG screenshot of a browser window might be 400 KB; the same shot as JPG is often under 100 KB.
• TIFF — lossless like PNG but much larger. Mainly useful if you're sending images to print workflows that require it.
• PDF — if you screenshot a window and want to embed it in a document or Keynote slide as a vector-quality PDF rather than a raster image.

Does JPG affect quality noticeably?

macOS uses a high-quality JPEG compression level by default, so the difference is subtle for most UI screenshots. Where it shows up is fine text, sharp edges, and areas of flat color — you may see slight compression artifacts around text. For sharing in chat or embedding in a document, JPG is fine. For design handoff or pixel inspection, stick with PNG.