How iCloud may affect Screenshots on Mac

How iCloud may affect Screenshots on Mac

Where did my screenshots go?

With older versions of ScreenPal, screenshots are stored by default in the Documents folder on your Mac.  If this is the case, you may find some of your screenshots missing due to the use of iCloud's Optimize Mac Storage feature.  The Optimize Mac Storage feature will randomly back up and remove files from your computer. When a file is backed up with iCloud, it will be removed from ScreenPal.

With newer versions of ScreenPal (version 3.4.0 and above), ScreenPal stores screenshots and videos in the Home folder. You can find your Home folder by opening the Finder and pressing CMD+Shift+H. Your home folder is named with your user name and will have a ScreenPal folder within it.

What can I do to access my screenshots?

To access your screenshots again, you will need to tell iCloud to return them to your computer.

1. Open the Mac Finder.



2. Click Documents and look for a ScreenPal folder.  Inside the ScreenPal folder is a Screenshots or Images Projects folder containing these images.  If iCloud has removed files from any screenshots then you will see cloud icons next to the filename, as shown in the image below.



3. Click on the    icon next to the screenshot name to tell iCloud that you want that screenshot back on your computer.

Once you click on the icon a circle will appear showing you the progress while the screenshot is being recovered from iCloud.  When the screenshot is ready, the icon will disappear. 
Warning: When the screenshot is recovered, any annotations or overlays that you added will be flattened on the image and will no longer be editable.

What can I do to stop this from happening in the future?

If you'd like to stop this from happening in the future, you can:

1. Install the latest version of ScreenPal for Mac, which will store your video and image files in the Home folder, rather than in the Documents folder.
2. Turn off the Optimize Mac Storage feature. For more information about this feature, see this Apple Support article.
3. Choose a different folder in which to store your ScreenPal content.

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