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User profile for user: WizLegacy
WizLegacy Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Where does Preview save files?

TL;DR

Quick answer, try:

username->Documents->filename


More Info

I had this question and searched the web for an assist after poking around a bit. Saw some discussion back in 2013, with no definitive answer. I have since discovered something useful - at least, to me. Figured there might be some other curious and resourceful folks with the same question, so putting this out there in case it helps. Of course, if the most recent discussion is from 2013, it could absolutely be that I am the last person on earth to figure this out. But I’m still helping…because you all get a good laugh!


Here’s what I discovered.

Open Finder. Go to the Menu Bar (across the top of your screen, if you’re new to the Mac iOS, or perhaps just clicking on things as you learn, without really knowing the exact name).


In the Menu Bar, click

Finder->View->Show Path Bar


In Finder, you’ll probably see your Recents in the sidebar. If you’re looking for a specific doc and asking this question about where Preview puts things, there’s a good chance you’ve just been working with the file…well…

”recently.”


If you see your file in Recents *and* you have the Show Path Name option checked in Finder, you can look at the bottom of the Finder window and locate where things are.


And this is so obvious it’s embarrassing…but here I go, sacrificing my pride and dignity in the name of anyone who finds themselves overwhelmed in the transition from PC to Mac: start with the basics. I didn’t.


The macOS User Guide found at support.Apple.com offers a wealth of information to get you started off on firm footing, with Support articles like:

* Organize your files in the Finder on Mac

* Use the Preview pane in the Finder on Mac

* Perform quick actions in the Finder on Mac


Pretty quickly, you’ll discover the patterns in ways the common elements of a Mac screen or app. And it is lovely. It is intuitive, once you understand the patterns.


Carry on Good People. You got this!



MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 28, 2021 3:01 PM

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User profile for user: Eau Rouge
Eau Rouge
User level: Level 8
42,596 points

Posted on May 29, 2021 12:45 AM

Well the easiest option is have an image open in Preview and press Save this should bring up a small Save dialogue box.

Next to Where click on the double-arrowed option to reveal a whole list of places to choose to save your image.

Further to the right of that click the downward pointing arrow to expand this box further to see a larger dialogue

where you can drill down through your folder structure to pick a destination or create a New Folder for your image.


That simple.


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User profile for user: Eau Rouge
Eau Rouge
User level: Level 8
42,596 points

May 29, 2021 12:45 AM in response to WizLegacy

Well the easiest option is have an image open in Preview and press Save this should bring up a small Save dialogue box.

Next to Where click on the double-arrowed option to reveal a whole list of places to choose to save your image.

Further to the right of that click the downward pointing arrow to expand this box further to see a larger dialogue

where you can drill down through your folder structure to pick a destination or create a New Folder for your image.


That simple.


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User profile for user: WizLegacy
WizLegacy Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 28, 2021 8:38 PM in response to Barney-15E

Fair feedback for sure.


You seem an experienced user, so I will seek some guidance from you: how can I do a better job at contributing in a meaningful way? My long-winded attempt may have been clumsy, but I was trying to do the following:

* share what I’m learning with other newbies,

*present my findings for critique in case I got something wrong, and

*respect the efforts of more advanced users like yourself by posting a quick summary at the very top so you don’t have to ease through a wall of text. What are your thoughts on how to do that more efficiently?


Thank you for making an effort to help the Apple Community improve.

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User profile for user: Barney-15E
Barney-15E
User level: Level 10
116,482 points

May 29, 2021 5:15 AM in response to WizLegacy

Posting any sort of how-tos or help documents here would be futile.

Try searching for something—it takes me a lot of altering the search terms to find a thread that I’m looking for.

This forum isn’t designed to do what you are trying to provide. If it did, people wouldn’t post the same questions over and over. They’d see the answer pop up when they create the initial question and not ask the same thing that was answered not but a few hours before. You have to enter the same exact phrase as the title of the post to have any chance of the Search system matching it.


At some point (level 5), you are allowed to create User Tips, which is what you are attempting, but even those are difficult to search.


The best way to pass on what you have learned is to answer other people’s questions. Answer in a way that explains the oddities like Eau Rouge did about the two different save file dialogue views.

Also, there is nothing special about where Preview saves files. It works like almost every other app, so the Tip could be more generalized to working with the standard file save dialog.

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Where does Preview save files?

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