Where apps hide your files

Finding your Steam screenshot folder

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Steam stores screenshots in a hidden Library folder under numbered folders, which makes them hard to find by browsing. Here is the exact path, the Show on disk shortcut, and how to keep an easy copy of future shots.

The location

Steam keeps its own copy of every screenshot taken with its overlay here:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<account number>/760/remote/<app ID>/screenshots/

userdata holds one folder per Steam account that has signed in on this Mac, named by the account's number, not your username. 760 is the folder Steam uses for screenshots. Under remote there is one folder per game, named by its Steam app ID, and the pictures are in that game's screenshots folder.

The quickest route skips the numbers. In Steam, choose View > Recordings & Screenshots (just Screenshots in some clients), select a picture and choose Show on disk. Finder opens on the right folder.

Open it by hand

~/Library is hidden in Finder. Choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), paste this and press Return:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata

Or from Terminal:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/userdata

If more than one account folder appears, yours is the one that matches your Friend Code: in Steam choose Friends > Add a Friend and the number shown as Your Friend Code is the same account number. Open that folder, then 760, then remote.

Which folder is which game

The game folders are numbered, not named. A game's number is its Steam app ID, the digits in its store page address (store.steampowered.com/app/<number>). Screenshots of non-Steam games you added to your library get long generated numbers instead. Sorting by Date Modified also helps, but Show on disk is quicker.

A copy you can find: the external folder

Steam's own copies are compressed. Steam can also write a second, uncompressed copy of each new screenshot to a folder you choose, and that is the copy worth setting up.

1. Choose Steam > Settings, then In Game.
2. Under Screenshots, turn on Save an external copy of my screenshots. Older clients called this "Save an uncompressed copy".
3. Next to External screenshots folder, click Change folder and pick somewhere such as ~/Pictures/Steam Screenshots.

Two things to know. Community answers report that changing the folder does not copy screenshots you took earlier, so copy those over yourself. And the external copy is a plain file: the screenshot manager keeps working from Steam's own copy, and that is the one it uploads.

The same settings page has Take a screenshot, the key Steam listens for. The default is F12. On a Mac keyboard the top row controls volume and brightness, so you may need to hold fn, or pick another key there.

What is in each game's folder

Item	What it is
Image files	The screenshots, named by Steam with the date and time they were taken rather than the game's name
thumbnails	Small previews the manager uses
screenshots.vdf	Steam's index of your screenshots, one level up in the 760 folder. It holds no pictures

List one folder to see exactly what your version wrote. Do not rename pictures or edit the index inside Steam's folder: the manager can lose track of them. Copy them out instead.

Getting screenshots out

• One at a time: select a picture in the manager and use Show on disk, then copy it from Finder. Recent clients can also export a picture as a new file and copy it to the clipboard.
• In bulk: open the game's screenshots folder, press ⌘A, then hold ⌥ while you drag to another folder so Finder copies instead of moving. Copying keeps the manager working.
• Upload: the manager can share a picture to your Steam profile. That online copy is separate from the file on disk and is not a backup of it.

Space and deleting

A long run through a large game adds up, and each game has its own folder. To see the sizes without changing anything:

du -sh ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/userdata/*/760/remote/*

Delete unwanted pictures from the manager, which asks before removing a screenshot from your disk and keeps its index in step. Deleting the file in Finder leaves the index out of date. Pictures already uploaded to your profile have to be removed online, from your online screenshots page.

Backing up or moving to a new Mac

If you use an external folder, back it up like any other pictures. For Steam's own copies, quit Steam first, then copy the 760 folder from your account folder. On the new Mac, sign in to Steam once so your account folder exists, quit Steam, and copy 760 into the matching account folder.

Why searching for them misses

Spotlight and Finder searches leave out ~/Library, so a search for a screenshot finds nothing there, and the game folders are named by number. Copies in an external folder under Pictures are ordinary files and do show up.

Finding a screenshot next time

Steam names each picture with a date stamp, so typing the date you played, such as 20261028, into Everywhere lists that day's screenshots with the folder each one sits in. The userdata folders are scanned without any extra permission; an external copy kept in Pictures appears once Everywhere has Full Disk Access, because macOS protects that folder. It matches file names, not what a picture shows. ⌘↵ reveals a result in Finder.

Common questions

Where are Steam screenshots saved on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<account number>/760/remote/<app ID>/screenshots/. In Steam's screenshot manager (View > Recordings & Screenshots, or View > Screenshots in some clients), select a picture and choose Show on disk to open the folder.

How do I find which Steam screenshot folder belongs to which game?

Folders under remote are named by Steam app ID, the number in the game's store page address. Selecting a picture in the screenshot manager and choosing Show on disk is quicker.

How do I change the Steam screenshot folder on a Mac?

Choose Steam > Settings > In Game, turn on Save an external copy of my screenshots, and click Change folder next to External screenshots folder. Steam keeps its own copy in userdata as well, and the change does not copy older screenshots.

What key takes a Steam screenshot on a Mac?

F12 by default, while a game is running through Steam. On a Mac keyboard you may need to hold fn, and you can pick another key under Take a screenshot in Steam > Settings > In Game.