How to Save a Picture on Mac

See an image you like? Save it!

by
Tyler Hayes
Tyler Hayes
Writer
Tyler Hayes is a former Lifewire writer covering Apple, Google, Spotify, and more. Tyler has written for Fast Company, Digital Trends, and Paste, and others.
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Tyler Hayes
Updated on December 02, 2020

There are multiple ways to save a picture on a Mac computer. This guide walks through how to save pictures from websites and emails on your Mac. 

Macs are endlessly configurable, especially with the help of third-party utilities. For simplicity, these instructions are based on default, or common, system settings. There's a chance the steps differ from your Mac setup and configuration.

How to Save a Picture on Mac From Gmail

Gmail features an easy way to access pictures and attachments.

  1. Sign in to Gmail.com and select Inbox to see all your incoming emails.

    Gmail with Inbox selected

  2. A red icon with triangles indicates an image is attached to an mail. Select a red icon to display the image in a new screen

    Red icon indicating image attached to a Gmail email

  3. Click the down arrow in the top right corner of the screen to download the photo from Gmail and save it to your Mac.

    Gmail image screen with download icon highlighted

How to Save a Picture on Mac From Apple Mail

In Apple Mail, photos typically appear in-between text in the body of the message or at the bottom, depending on how the sender attached it.

  1. Open Apple Mail and select the message containing one or more photos.

    Apple Mail application with an email opened

  2. Hover your mouse on the horizontal line just under the header information to bring up an action bar.

    Action bar at the top of an Apple Mail email

  3. Select the paperclip on the action bar to open a drop-down menu. Select individual photos to save or Save All for multiple photos. You can also opt to export them to your Photos app.

    The paperclip selected on the Apple Mail action bar

  4. Select a location for the saved photos and click Save to confirm the download.

    Location selected for downloaded photos and Save button highlighted

If you use Outlook on Mac, the steps are similar to Apple's Mail app. In an email, you'll see a photo attachment icon. Click Download All if there are multiple pictures or click the arrow next to a specific attachment, then click Save As.

How to Save an Image on Mac From a Website

  1. Open a browser and find a photo you want to save.

  2. Right-click the photo. Alternatively, hold down Control and then click the photo to open a drop-down menu.

    If you have a laptop or trackpad, you can click or tap with two fingers for a right-click, or secondary click.

  3. Select Save image as in the menu. Select a download location and click Save.

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