How to recover screenshots on Windows or Mac?

11 minutes read

Screenshots can be very important and crucial. If finding a screen capture is one part of the job, recovering them if lost is another challenging task. You will find in this article all the necessary information not only to find captured screenshots but also steps to use Remo Recover. Remo Recover is a powerful yet user-friendly tool that is capable of recovering not just screenshots but also other photos and videos from all versions of Windows and Mac systems with absolute ease. Download the tool for free now!!!

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Screenshots aka screengrab aka Screen capture can come really handy. It fundamentally means capturing your screen as an image. Screenshots made life easy and helped many share or store content. Once captured these screenshots get automatically saved in various places depending on the device. In this article, you will learn where to find screenshots captured on devices like desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets and also get useful information on how to recover deleted or lost screenshots.

Part 1: Finding screenshots on Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS

Android smartphones

You can find the captured screenshots automatically saved in the screenshot folder of the gallery app. If you are using Google photos you can find them in the screenshot folder of your Google photos app. 

Find the screenshots folder within the gallery app

Tip for recovery: If you are unable to find the screenshots as mentioned above. Deleted screenshots on Android OS can be found in the deleted folder of your gallery as well as in the deleted folder of your Google Photos app.

Note: If you find yourself in a situation where you realize the pictures taken with the camera don't save in the gallery. Then, follow this article to find out why that happens and what to do about it.

iPhones and iPads

Screenshots grabbed on an iPhone or iPad are also stored in the gallery. They are stored in the screenshot folder, as shown below.

find your captured screenshots in the screenshots folder in your photos app of your iPhone or iPad

If you have deleted them from the screenshot folder. They end up in the recently deleted folder. From where you can easily restore them.  Click here to know how to recover permanently deleted photos from the iPad.

Windows

If you have used the Windows Key + PrtSc key to grab the screen, then you can find them in the screenshot folder.
If you want to view them you can follow the below steps:

Step 1: Open File Explorer, and click on This PC from the left pane.

Step 2: Double-Click on Pictures Folder.

Step 3: within the pictures folder you can find the screenshot folder, double-click on that.

click on the screenshots folder to find all screengrabs

All the screenshots grabbed using this method will by default get saved in this folder. 

If you have used any other command such as pressing Windows key + Shift + S key or used a tool like snipping tool or snip & sketch. The OS doesn’t automatically save them, you will have to store them in any particular folder. You can easily find and view them. 

The important point to be noted here is that the unsaved screenshots cannot be recovered.

Irrespective of what method you have used to capture the screen, as long as you have saved them onto any folder or any internal or external storage device. The chance of recovering them is pretty high.  

Macbook and iMac

If you have used the following methods to take screenshots on mac then by default those screenshots are saved on the desktop.

  1. Command + Shift + #/3 key
  2. Command + Shift + $/4 key

You can view them from the desktop. If you are unable to find them manually, make use of the finder. 

Part 2: Recover deleted or lost screenshots | Windows, and Mac

Recover Deleted Screenshots on Windows

If you have permanently lost screen grabs from any laptop or desktop that runs on Windows such as Acer, Asus, Alienware, Dell, Fujitsu, HP,  Lenovo, MSI, Razer, Samsung, Sony, ThinkPad, and Toshiba, then you can follow the below-mentioned methods that are proven to recover all of your screenshots.

Method 1: Restore Deleted Screenshots from the Recycle Bin

All of your deleted screenshots or other items end up in the Recycle Bin of your system. Just click on the Recycle Bin icon from the desktop and right-click on the deleted screenshots that you want to retrieve. From the drop-down menu click on the Restore option. Screenshots are restored to the exact same folder where they were earlier saved

Method 2: Use Backup Files 

If you regularly take backups of your files, then the job is pretty simple.

Step 1: Click on Start at the bottom left corner of the computer

Step 2: Next, click on Settings and select Update and Security

Step 3: Now, look for Backup to the left of the screen and click on it

Step 4: Under older backup, select Go to Backup and Restore

Step 5: In the restore section, click on Select another backup to restore a file from

Step 6: Now, browse for the file that has to be backed up and click on Next

Step 7: Select a location to restore the files and click on Restore, to start the restore process

Step 8: After restoring, click on Finish, restart the computer, and check for the recovered file

If the screenshots are not found in Recycle Bin or in the backup, you will have to use an effective data recovery tool to get lost images.

Method 3: How to Recover Permanently Lost or Deleted Screenshots on Windows?

Make use of Remo Photo Recovery software, a tool built with powerful search algorithms that are capable of finding and recovering screenshots that were lost or permanently deleted. Regardless of the brand or model of the computer, Remo Photo Recovery Software is equally effective. It functions flawlessly on any version of Windows OS, including Windows 11. Download the tool for free and follow the steps below to get back your screenshots with just a few simple clicks!!!

Download and install the Remo Photo Recovery tool on your Windows system, and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step 1: Launch the tool, from the main screen click on the drive or the folder where you want to recover deleted screenshots and click on the Scan option.

select the drive from where you want to recover deleted screenshots

Step 2: Once the tool is done with the Quick Scan. You can make use of the Dynamic Recovery View option to view and restore the screenshots without having to wait till the completion of the entire scanning process.

click on dynamic recovery view to have a look at the recovered screenshot image files

Step 3: Upon completion of the entire scan, a list of all the recovered files will get displayed on your screen. Make use of the Advanced Filter option to sort and filter files.
Note: The feature was thoughtfully built to help you recover only those files that you want to retrieve without any unwanted clutter.

use advanced filter option to find your screenshots image files

Step 4: The tool is built with a preview feature that lets you verify the recovered screenshots even before saving them.

preview the recovered screenshot files by double clicking on them

Step 5: When you are satisfied with the efficacy of the tool. Kindly activate the tool by purchasing the activation key. Browse and select any safe location then click on the Save button to save the recovered files onto the chosen location.

select the files that you want to recover and save the recovered screenshots on any location

How to Recover Deleted Screenshots on Mac?

As long as those screengrabs were saved in the system or any external storage device, recovering them is not at all a difficult task. Let's start screenshot recovery.

Method 1: Recover from Trash Bin

Any files that were deleted manually, including the captured screenshots, usually end up in the trash bin.  Follow the steps below explained below.

Step 1: Open the Trash Folder, find and select the files you want to recover.

Step 2: Right-click on the files and tap on the Putback option to restore the selected files. 

select the deleted screenshots and click on the putback option

Method 2: Restore Files from Time Machine Backup

Taking a regular backup of important files and folders is usually a good habit. If in case you have lost the screenshots that were saved in any folder, then you can make use of Time Machine to restore the backup files.

Step 1: Launch Time Machine by Clicking on the System Preferences option.

click on the system preferences

Step 2: Find and click on the Time Machine icon.

find the time machine icon and click on it

Step 3: Check the show time machine in the menu bar option; Time Machine icon will appear on the menu bar of your screen.

Step 4: Click on Enter Time Machine.

enter time machine

Note: In case you know in which folder the file was previously stored. Click on that folder, then Click on Enter Time Machine.

Step 5: Find the files that you want to recover, then click on the Restore button.

select the screenshots and click on restore option

This method works if you have a backup, in case you don’t have a backup or this method fails to recover your files. We highly recommend you use the next method.

Method 3: Use Photo Recovery Software

Recovery of deleted screenshots or other files is a cakewalk when you use Remo Mac Photo Recovery Software. A tool that has been tried and tested to recover image files (screengrabs) clicked on any Macbook or iMac without any effort. It is even capable of retrieving lost screenshots from a corrupted drive. The powerful search algorithms of Remo can locate and recover them from any internal or external storage device with absolute ease. 

Download the tool for free now!!!

Recover Permanently Deleted or Lost Screenshots from Macbook or iMac

Once you have downloaded and installed the tool on your Mac desktop or laptop, follow the steps carefully to retrieve your favorite screenshots.

Step 1: Launch the tool; from the main screen select the drive and select the drive, and click on Scan to recover screenshots

select the drive and click on Scan

Step 2: Click on Dynamic Recovery View to see the photos and other data being recovered from the device.

view the data being recovered

Step 3: Locate the deleted and lost photos in Lost and Found and Deleted Files folders.

locate all the recovered files in the folders

Step 4:  Preview the screenshots by double-clicking on them. If you are satisfied with the recovered file, just click on Recover to save them

preview and save the recovered photos.

NOTE: Make sure you save the recovered file in a different location from the previous one to avoid losing it.

Conclusion:

Here, we end our discussion on finding and recovering screenshots on various devices running on Windows and Mac. If you have deleted those screenshots permanently or they are lost forever due to any reason, such as formatting or virus attacks, make use of Remo Photo Recovery software, which is built specifically to recover images or screenshots.

While most of the questions on finding and recovering screenshots have been answered, feel free to drop additional queries in the comments section below.

About the Author: John Harris

With a decade of experience in data recovery, John Harris, Senior Editor at Remo Software, is your go-to specialist. His focus includes partition management, Windows solutions, and data troubleshooting, delivering insightful content that serves both users and search engines. John's expertise shines through in illuminating blog posts, untangling data loss intricacies across diverse storage platforms.…