Where Do Screen Recordings Go on Mac? (And How to Change It)

On a Mac, screen recordings made with Shift-Command-5 (⇧⌘5) or QuickTime Player go to your Desktop by default. Each one is a .mov file named "Screen Recording" followed by the date and time. To save them somewhere else, press ⇧⌘5, click Options, and pick a folder under Save to.

Dedicated recorders use their own folders. Screen Bolt, for example, stores each recording as a project in ~/Screen Bolt Projects. It saves finished exports to the Desktop unless you choose another folder.

Where screen recordings go on Mac, by app

Default location for Shift-Command-5 recordings

If you record with the screenshot toolbar (⇧⌘5) and have never picked a different folder, macOS saves the file to your Desktop. The file is a QuickTime movie (.mov), named "Screen Recording" plus the date and time it was made.

When Show Floating Thumbnail is on, the file doesn't appear immediately. After you stop recording, a small thumbnail sits in the lower-right corner of the screen for a few seconds. The file is written to its folder only after that thumbnail slides away. If you click the thumbnail, the recording opens in a preview window first. If you drag the thumbnail into a folder or an app, the file goes there instead of the usual location.

To stop a recording, click the stop button in the menu bar or press ⌃⌘Esc (Control-Command-Escape). For other ways to stop, see how to stop a screen recording on Mac.

Change the screen recording save location on Mac

1. Press ⇧⌘5.
2. Click Options in the toolbar.
3. Under Save to, pick Desktop, Documents or one of the listed apps. To use any other folder, choose Other Location… and select it.
4. Press Esc to close the toolbar, or start a recording.

Some details that affect the result:

• Recordings you already made stay where they are. Only new recordings use the new folder.
• If you choose an app such as Mail or Messages, the recording is attached to a new message or conversation. It does not land in a folder.
• If you choose QuickTime Player, the recording opens in QuickTime Player instead of going into a folder. Use File ▸ Save (⌘S) before you close the window, so you know where the file ends up.

Where QuickTime recordings go

On current macOS versions (Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe), File ▸ New Screen Recording in QuickTime Player opens the same toolbar you get with ⇧⌘5. QuickTime recordings therefore follow the same Save to setting, and they go to the Desktop by default.

The exceptions are files you save yourself. If you trim a recording in QuickTime or use File ▸ Export As, the save dialog asks where to put the new file. Check the location in that dialog, because it may not match your screen recording folder.

Where Screen Bolt saves projects and exports

Screen Bolt keeps two kinds of files apart: the project (your raw recording plus all your edits) and the finished video you export. Most "where did my video go?" questions come from mixing up the two.

Projects: ~/Screen Bolt Projects

When you stop a recording, Screen Bolt moves the raw files into a new project in your projects folder. By default that is Screen Bolt Projects in your home folder (in Finder, choose Go ▸ Home, or press ⇧⌘H, Shift-Command-H).

Each project is named Screen Bolt <date> at <time>.screenbolt. Finder shows it as a single file with the Screen Bolt Project icon. It is actually a package (a folder) containing:

• recording.mov, the raw screen recording
• webcam.mov and webcam2.mov, if you recorded one or two cameras
• project.json, your edits plus the cursor and click data

To get at the raw .mov, right-click the .screenbolt file and choose Show Package Contents. In the editor, you can also right-click a clip on the timeline and choose Reveal Source in Finder.

Ways to reach your projects from inside the app:

• File ▸ Show previous projects opens the projects folder in Finder.
• File ▸ Open recent lists the 10 most recently modified projects and videos in that folder.
• File ▸ Open last project (⌥⌘Z) opens the newest one.

To change the projects folder, open Settings (⌘,), go to the Recording tab, and click Change directory next to Save new projects to. Open recent and Show previous projects look only in the current projects folder. If you have projects in a previous folder, open them with File ▸ Open project... (⌘O) or by double-clicking them in Finder.

Exports: the Desktop, unless you change it

Clicking Export in the editor opens the Export sheet. Its Save to row sets where the finished MP4, MOV or GIF goes. The default is the Desktop. Click Change… to pick another folder, and Screen Bolt remembers it for next time.

Exported files are named Screen Bolt <date> at <time>.mp4 (or .mov / .gif), and Finder reveals the file when the export finishes. Formats and quality settings are covered on the export help page.

Two things catch people out:

• The folder button in the editor toolbar, Open Export Folder, opens the projects folder, not the Export sheet's Save to folder. If your export isn't there, check the Desktop or the folder shown in the Export sheet.
• If you set After recording to Export to file (in Settings ▸ Recording, or Record ▸ Export to file (skip editor)), the quick export is written inside the project package, next to recording.mov. Finder reveals it when it's done. To find it later, use Show Package Contents on that project.

The toolbar Share button sends the raw recording.mov through the macOS share sheet, not an edited export. Export first if you want to share the edited version.

As of November 2026, the free version of Screen Bolt records without a time limit, but its exports are watermarked, capped at 720p and 3 minutes, and can't be GIFs. Compare the free and Pro versions.

Can't find a recording? Search and recovery tips

These are ordered from the most common cause to the least.

The thumbnail was still on screen

Symptom: you stopped recording and nothing appeared on the Desktop. Fix: wait for the floating thumbnail in the lower-right corner to disappear, or swipe it away. The file is saved after that. To make recordings save straight away, press ⇧⌘5, click Options and turn off Show Floating Thumbnail.

The save folder was changed earlier

Symptom: older recordings are on the Desktop, but new ones aren't. Fix: press ⇧⌘5 and open Options. The checked item under Save to is where new recordings go.

Search for it by name

Press ⌘Space (Command-Space) to open Spotlight and type Screen Recording. For Screen Bolt projects and exports, type Screen Bolt. In Finder, you can also open Recents in the sidebar, or search and sort the results by Date Modified.

The Desktop is grouped or synced to iCloud

Symptom: the file should be on the Desktop but you don't see it. Fix: if Desktop stacks are on, files are grouped into stacks; click a stack to expand it. If iCloud Drive syncs your Desktop and Documents folders, the Desktop folder appears under iCloud in the Finder sidebar. A file with a cloud icon has been offloaded to save space and downloads when you open it.

It was deleted

Check the Trash. In Screen Bolt, Delete Recording moves the whole project folder to the Trash, and you can put it back from there. Screen Bolt's Discard and restart button is different: it deletes the take and creates no project, so there is nothing to restore.

A Screen Bolt quick export left no file

Symptom: After recording is set to Export to file, but no video appeared. Fix: a quick export that is blocked (for example, a free-version recording longer than 3 minutes) fails without a message. The project is still saved in your projects folder. Open it and export from the editor, where you'll see what the limit is.

Screen Bolt stopped or quit during a recording

While you record, Screen Bolt writes to temporary files named ScreenBolt_<timestamp>.mov in the macOS temporary folder. What you can do depends on whether the app is still open:

• The recording stopped with an error, but Screen Bolt is still open: choose File ▸ Recover unfinished recordings..., which opens the newest leftover file. Recovered videos open in the editor without creating a project, so edits aren't saved; export what you need before closing.
• Screen Bolt quit or crashed: quitting during an active recording doesn't finalize it, and Screen Bolt deletes leftover temporary files the next time it launches. Before you reopen the app, copy any ScreenBolt_ files out of the temporary folder. This command opens that folder in Finder and changes nothing:

open "$TMPDIR"

A file left by an interrupted recording may be truncated and might not play. For other recovery options, see how to recover a lost screen recording on Mac.

You're still recording

If the stop button is still in the menu bar, a ⇧⌘5 or QuickTime recording is still running and nothing has been saved yet. Stop it with ⌃⌘Esc or the menu bar button, then check the save folder. In Screen Bolt, the recording bar shows a timer and a Stop button while recording, and "Finishing..." while it writes the file.

FAQ

Do Mac screen recordings go to the Photos app? No. The screenshot toolbar and QuickTime save recordings as files in a folder (the Desktop by default), not to your Photos library. You can import them into Photos yourself.

Why are my recordings .mov files and not MP4? The built-in tools record in QuickTime's .mov format. Screen Bolt can export MP4, MOV or GIF. See MP4 vs MOV for which format suits which job.

Does changing the save location move my old recordings? In macOS, no. Only new recordings use the new folder; move older files yourself in Finder.

If you haven't recorded anything yet, start with how to screen record on Mac.