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Clear screenshots

Overview​

About this script

This script improves your privacy on Linux.

These changes use Linux system commands to update your settings.

GNOME's default screenshot folder (as seen in Pop!_OS and Elementary OS) is ~/Pictures/Screenshots/ 1. Flameshot also uses the same default folder as GNOME 2. Despite being GNOME-based, Ubuntu changes this default to ~/Pictures/ with files that look like "Screenshot from ***.png" 3.

KDE (Spectacle) saves screenshots in the ~/Pictures/ folder with the default name format of Screenshot_%Y%M%D_%H%m%S.** 4.

Other applications use different paths, e.g. ksnip uses ksnip_$Y$M$D-$T.png by default in the home folder 5.

This script uses Bash (Shell script) scripting language.

Not Advised

This script should only be used by advanced users. This script is not recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality. Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots.

Implementation Details

  • Language: bash

  • Required Privileges: Root/sudo access

  • Compatibility: Linux only

  • Reversibility: Some changes may be permanent

Explore Categories​

This action belongs to Privacy cleanup category. These scripts allow you to increase privacy by deleting collected data about you and your behavior. Read more on category page ▶

Apply now​

Choose one of three ways to apply:

  1. Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
  2. Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.
  3. Manually by copying: Advanced flexibility.

Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy​

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.

Open privacy.sexy

privacy.sexy instructions
  1. Open or download the desktop application
  2. Search for the script name: Clear screenshots.
  3. Check the script by clicking on the checkbox.
  4. Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.

Alternative 2. Download​

Reversible

This script is reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.

If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.

  1. Download the script file by clicking on the button below:

    Download script

  2. Run the script file by clicking on it.

Alternative 3. Copy​

This is for advanced users. Consider automatically applying or downloading the script for simpler way.

  1. Open Terminal

  2. Copy the following code:

Code to apply changes
# Clear default directory for GNOME screenshots
rm -rfv ~/Pictures/Screenshots/*
if [ -d ~/Pictures ]; then
  # Clear Ubuntu screenshots
  find ~/Pictures -name 'Screenshot from *.png' | while read -r file_path; do
    rm -fv "$file_path" # E.g. Screenshot from 2022-08-20 02-46-41.png
  done
  # Clear KDE (Spectatle) screenshots
  find ~/Pictures -name 'Screenshot_*' | while read -r file_path; do
    rm -fv "$file_path" # E.g. Screenshot_20220927_205646.png
  done
fi
# Clear ksnip screenshots
find ~ -name 'ksnip_*' | while read -r file_path; do
  rm -fv "$file_path" # E.g. ksnip_20220927-195151.png
done
  1. Paste the code into terminal.
  2. Press Enter to apply the code.

Some scripts requires restarting your computer to take affect.

Support​

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