How to Use the Mac Screenshot Toolbar Options

The Mac screenshot toolbar's Options menu explained: Save to, Timer, Show Floating Thumbnail, Remember Last Selection, and Show Mouse Pointer on macOS.

1. Open the toolbar and find Options. Press Command + Shift + 5. A toolbar appears near the bottom of the screen with three screenshot buttons, two recording buttons, an Options menu, and a Capture button. Click Options. Everything described below lives inside that one menu.
2. Set where captures are saved. Save to offers Desktop, Documents, Clipboard, Mail, Messages, Preview, and Other Location. Desktop is the default. Preview opens each capture in an editor. Clipboard skips the file entirely and holds the image in memory until you paste it somewhere.
3. Use the timer for awkward captures. Timer offers None, 5 Seconds, and 10 Seconds. Choose one, click Capture, then set up whatever you need on screen. The countdown runs and the shot fires on its own, with your hands nowhere near the keyboard.
4. Decide on the floating thumbnail. Show Floating Thumbnail is on by default. It parks each capture in the bottom right corner for a few seconds before saving it. Switch it off and captures save immediately, with no preview and no wait before the file appears.
5. Keep the last selection rectangle. Remember Last Selection makes the crosshair reopen at the exact rectangle you used previously. Take twenty captures of the same window region and every one of them lines up. Switch it off and the selection resets each time you start.
6. Show or hide the mouse pointer. Show Mouse Pointer includes the cursor in the image, and it is off by default because most screenshots do not want it. The option only appears while a screenshot mode is selected. Choose a recording mode and it becomes Show Mouse Clicks.