Screnshots/Screenshot application will not save images to clipboard, downloads, etc.

vincentiaz wrote:

I tried your suggestion.

Screenshots will now save to the desktop as .pdf files.

If I select the Clipboard as the save location, they do not appear in Finder>>Edit>>Show Clipboard and I can not paste them anywhere (probably because they bare not captured to the Clipboard).

I also tried rebooting in Safe Mode and the problem is the same there.

Looks to be some type of Mac OS software/service problem with the Clipboard/Clipboard image handling.

OK so I am refining my problem description:

Screenshots do not save to the Clipboard.

This occurs with the Screenshot application and when using the keyboard shortcuts.

This is probably why they are failing.

If the format is pdf and "Show Floating Thumbnail" is ON, the screenshot fails.

Try changing the file type back to the default, which is png.

Open Terminal, and paste the following line:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png

At some point in the past, the default format for your screenshots was changed from the usual format (PNG) to PDF, and that's the cause of your issues.

There is a Terminal command to restore the PNG format, open Applications > Utilities > Terminal and type the following:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png

You can reenable the floating thumbnail, if you find it useful.

Some users have reported that turning off the floating thumbnail corrects this sort of issue (though I cannot replicate the issue, personally).Press Command-Shift-5, click on Options, then click on Show Floating Thumbnail to deselect it.

Assuming the Save To location is set to Desktop, do files now appear there?