CopyslateHow to paste a screenshot on a Mac without saving it first
Take a screenshot on a Mac and it does not go where you want to paste it. It shrinks into a thumbnail at the bottom right of the screen, then lands on the Desktop as a PNG file. Press ⌘V in Slack, Figma or Mail and nothing happens, because the clipboard is empty. Here are the ways around that, from the built-in trick to doing it once and forgetting about it.
The built-in way: hold Control
macOS can copy a screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving it. Hold ⌃ while you take it: ⌃⌘⇧4 for an area, ⌃⌘⇧3 for the whole screen. No file is written and ⌘V pastes the picture anywhere that accepts images.
The catch is remembering the extra key every time, and that a copied screenshot leaves no file behind. If you later want it, it is gone the moment you copy something else.
Use the thumbnail
The small preview that appears at the bottom right for a few seconds can be dragged straight into a document, a chat or an email. Click it instead and it opens in Markup, where ⌘C copies the image. Both work, both need you to be quick, and the thumbnail disappears if you look away.
Change what ⌘⇧5 does
Press ⌘⇧5 to open the Screenshot toolbar, then Options. Under "Save to" you can choose Clipboard, which makes every screenshot from the toolbar copy instead of save. This only applies to screenshots taken from that toolbar, not to ⌘⇧4, and you still get no file.
Set it once: every screenshot on the clipboard, and the file too
Copyslate watches the folder where macOS saves screenshots. The moment a screenshot lands there it is also on your clipboard, so ⌘V works right away, in any app. macOS still shows the thumbnail and still saves the PNG, so nothing you rely on changes. The screenshot also stays in your clipboard history, one key away with ⌥V, and ⌥⇧V drops it onto a reference canvas that floats over the app you are working in.
Clipboard history and screenshot copying are free. The home page shows the difference side by side.
Questions
Why do my screenshots go to the Desktop?
That is the macOS default. Press ⌘⇧5, open Options and choose another folder under "Save to" if you want them elsewhere, or Clipboard to copy instead of save.
Can I paste a screenshot into Slack, Figma or Mail?
Yes, once it is on the clipboard. Hold Control while taking the screenshot, drag the thumbnail, or let Copyslate copy every screenshot automatically; then ⌘V in the app.
Does copying a screenshot also save the file?
With the Control trick, no; the screenshot exists only on the clipboard. With Copyslate the file is saved as usual and the clipboard gets a copy.