How to Save a Picture on Mac

See an image you like? Save it!

 Johner Images/Getty Images

by Tyler Hayes
Tyler Hayes is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire whose articles have appeared in Fast Company, Digital Trends, Fortune, and many others.
Updated December 19, 2018

There are multiple ways to save a picture on a Mac computer. This guide will walk through how to save screenshots, and how to save pictures from websites and email 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 a quick and easy way to access pictures and attachments.

gmail inbox

  1. Sign in to Gmail.com, then click Inbox to see all your incoming emails.

  2. Look for an email with red icons with triangles, indicating it has a photo attachment.

    gmail inbox

  3. Click the red icon.

  4. The attached photo will display full screen.

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

  6. That's it!

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.

  2. At the top of the email, in the header, click either the Paperclip to save individual photos, or Save All for multiple photos.

  3. Select Save to confirm the download.

  4. Photos should be saved in the Downloads folder by default. This folder resides in the dock, unless changed.

If you use Outlook on Mac, the steps will be 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. Find a photo you want to save.

  2. Right-click the photo. Alternatively, hold down control, then click the photo.

    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.