How do I remove the screenshot? - Social Media Fixed

Taking screenshots on your computer is a great way to capture images for instructions, tutorials, reports, presentations and more. However, once you’ve taken a screenshot, you may want to remove or delete it for various reasons. Thankfully, deleting screenshots is straightforward on both Windows and Mac computers.

Why Would You Want to Delete a Screenshot?

There are a few common reasons you may want to remove a screenshot from your computer:

You took several screenshots and only need one or two of them for your purpose

The screenshot contains private or sensitive information you don’t want stored
You want to free up storage space on your computer by deleting unnecessary files
The screenshot is no longer needed for the project or purpose you took it for

Deleting old, unnecessary screenshots helps keep your computer clutter-free and protects sensitive information from being seen by others.

How to Delete a Screenshot on Windows

Deleting screenshots on a Windows PC is quick and easy. Here are the steps:

Open the folder where your screenshots are saved. By default, this is the Pictures > Screenshots folder.

Click to select the screenshot file you want to delete.
Press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Confirm the file deletion by clicking Yes when prompted.

The screenshot will be moved to your Recycle Bin. To permanently remove the screenshot from your computer, empty your Recycle Bin.

Here are some other ways to delete screenshots on Windows:

Right-click the screenshot file, select Delete, and confirm the deletion.

Drag and drop the screenshot file onto your Recycle Bin icon to delete it.
Select the screenshot file and press Shift + Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin and permanently delete the file.

How to Delete a Screenshot on Mac

On a Mac computer, you can easily locate and delete screenshots using Finder:

Open Finder and navigate to the Screenshots folder, usually located in your Pictures folder.
Select the screenshot file you want to remove.
Drag the file to the Trash icon in your Dock or right-click it and choose Move to Trash.

To permanently delete the screenshot, right-click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

Here are some other handy ways to delete screenshots on a Mac:

Press Command + Delete while a screenshot is selected to immediately bypass the Trash and permanently delete it.

Enable Finder’s Delete confirmation option to avoid accidental deletions.
Use Finder’s Clean Up tool to sort files by size and delete large screenshots.

Tips for Managing Your Screenshots

Follow these best practices for keeping your screenshots organized and under control:

Use descriptive filenames like screenshot_instructions_10232022.png to make shots easy to identify later.
Organize screenshots into folders for different projects or purposes.
Review old screenshots regularly and delete ones you no longer need.

Store important screenshots in cloud storage or backups in case you need to retrieve them later.
Resize overly large screenshots to take up less disk space.

Managing your screenshots this way will make finding and deleting them much easier down the road.

How to Delete Screenshots from Your Mobile Device

Smartphones and tablets also capture screenshots, usually by pressing power and volume buttons. Follow these steps to delete screenshots on mobile:

On iPhone or iPad

Open the Photos app and select the Screenshots album.
Tap Select in the upper right and select the screenshots to delete.

Tap the Delete icon in the bottom left and confirm the deletion.
Deleted screenshots will go to the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days before being permanently removed.

On Android

Open the Google Photos app and go to Library > Screenshots.

Tap the screenshot you want to delete and select the trash icon.
Confirm the deletion. The screenshot will remain in the Trash folder for 60 days before being permanently deleted.

Be sure to also clear out old screenshots from cloud storage services like iCloud or Google Photos if you have those enabled. This will help free up online storage space.

Can You Recover a Deleted Screenshot?

If you accidentally deleted an important screenshot, you may be able to get it back:

On Windows: Restore the screenshot from the Recycle Bin if it’s still there. Or use data recovery software to extract it from your hard drive.
On Mac: Recover recently deleted screenshots from the Trash before emptying it. Or use data recovery tools to pull the file from the hard drive.

On iPhone/iPad: Retrieving screenshots from the Recently Deleted folder in Photos app. Or restore device from an iCloud backup.
On Android: Restore the screenshot if it’s still in the Trash in Google Photos. Or use file recovery apps for Android.

The sooner you act, the better chance you have of recovering a deleted screenshot. Avoid saving new data to the device to maximize recoverability.

How to Clear Your Screenshot History

If you’ve taken sensitive screenshots on a shared device that you don’t want others finding later, you can clear out evidence that the screenshots ever existed:

Delete individual screenshots from your files as described above.
Clear the screenshot folder entirely by selecting all screenshots and deleting them.

Empty the Trash/Recycle Bin to complete the removal process.
Overwrite free disk space using secure delete apps to make previously deleted files unrecoverable.

On iPhone and iPad, you can also:

Turn off the option to save screenshots to Photos in Settings.
Disable access to the Photos app using Screen Time restrictions.

These steps will help ensure any private, financial, or other sensitive information in your screenshots remains private.

Conclusion

Deleting screenshots on your devices is easy once you know where to look for them. Keeping screenshots organized in appropriately named folders makes finding and deleting old shots a breeze.

Remember, you can often recover deleted screenshots from the Recycle Bin, Trash, or with data recovery tools if you need to retrieve them later. But regularly clearing out unneeded screenshots helps minimize clutter and protects sensitive information.

With the right file management habits, you can save the screenshots you require while responsibly deleting those you don’t.

Operating System	Screenshot Folder Location	Deletion Process
Windows	Pictures > Screenshots	Delete key > Confirm deletion
Mac	Pictures > Screenshots	Drag to Trash > Empty Trash
iPhone/iPad	Photos > Screenshots	Select > Delete > Confirm
Android	Google Photos > Screenshots	Tap Delete icon > Confirm