# Remove a screenshot from the NotchStar tray

> Hover a NotchStar tray screenshot and click the x, or right click it and choose Remove from notch. The file stays in your folder.

Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/help/remove-a-screenshot-from-the-notch-tray/
Last updated: 2026-11-04

Published 2026-11-04.

To remove a screenshot from the NotchStar tray, hover over its thumbnail and click the small x that appears in the top right corner, or right click it and choose Remove from notch. This only takes the thumbnail off the strip. The screenshot file stays in your folder.

## Remove one

- **Hover and click x.** The x shows up only while the pointer is over the thumbnail.
- **Right click, Remove from notch.**

## Remove all

Right click any thumbnail and choose Remove all from notch. The menu shows this item once there are two or more screenshots. It clears the strip and leaves every file alone.

## The rest of the right click menu

| Item | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Open | Opens the file in its default app. A plain click does the same. |
| Copy | Copies the file to the clipboard and takes it off the strip. |
| Reveal in Finder | Shows the file in its folder. |
| Pick or Unpick | Marks it for a multiple drag. |
| Copy all | Copies every file. |
| Pick all | Picks everything on the strip. |
| Remove from notch | Takes the thumbnail off. |
| Move to Trash | Moves the file to the Trash and takes the thumbnail off. |
| Remove all from notch | Takes every thumbnail off. |

Copy and Move to Trash differ from Remove: Copy counts as using the screenshot, and Move to Trash removes the file. See [dragging a screenshot to the Trash](https://www.notchstar.com/help/dragging-a-screenshot-to-the-trash-from-the-notch/).

## You do not have to clean up

Unused screenshots leave on their own after five minutes. Read [how long they stay](https://www.notchstar.com/help/how-long-screenshots-stay-in-the-notch-tray/). The overview is on the [Screenshot Tray page](https://www.notchstar.com/features/screenshot-tray/).

## Keep reading.

- [Screenshot Tray: your screenshots wait under the notch](https://www.notchstar.com/features/screenshot-tray/): Every screenshot lands in a tray under your Mac notch. Drag it into a chat, an email or a folder, or send several at once.
- [Dragging a screenshot to the Trash from the NotchStar tray](https://www.notchstar.com/help/dragging-a-screenshot-to-the-trash-from-the-notch/): Dropping a NotchStar tray screenshot on the Trash, or choosing Move to Trash from its menu, deletes the file as it would anywhere else on your Mac.
- [What happens to a screenshot file when it leaves the NotchStar tray](https://www.notchstar.com/help/what-happens-to-the-file-when-a-screenshot-leaves-the-tray/): Leaving the NotchStar tray never touches the screenshot file. It stays where macOS saved it, except when you drop it on the Trash or on a Finder folder.
- [How long screenshots stay in the NotchStar tray](https://www.notchstar.com/help/how-long-screenshots-stay-in-the-notch-tray/): The NotchStar Screenshot Tray holds the latest 12 screenshots and keeps each unused one for five minutes. Using a screenshot removes it sooner.

## More in Screenshot Tray.

- [How screenshots reach the NotchStar Screenshot Tray](https://www.notchstar.com/help/how-screenshots-reach-the-notch-tray/): NotchStar watches the folder where macOS saves screenshots and hangs each new one under the notch. Here is what counts, what does not, and how fast.
- [How long screenshots stay in the NotchStar tray](https://www.notchstar.com/help/how-long-screenshots-stay-in-the-notch-tray/): The NotchStar Screenshot Tray holds the latest 12 screenshots and keeps each unused one for five minutes. Using a screenshot removes it sooner.
- [Drag a screenshot from the notch into a chat or email](https://www.notchstar.com/help/drag-a-screenshot-into-a-chat-or-email/): Press on a screenshot in the NotchStar tray, move a few points and drop it into a chat or an email. The app receives a copy of the file.
- [Drag a screenshot from the notch into a folder](https://www.notchstar.com/help/drag-a-screenshot-from-the-notch-into-a-folder/): Drop a NotchStar tray screenshot on a Finder folder to put the file there. Finder decides whether it moves or copies, and the tray entry goes away.
- [Send several screenshots at once from the notch](https://www.notchstar.com/help/send-several-screenshots-at-once/): Take a few screenshots, pick the ones you want and drag them into a chat together. NotchStar carries all picked files in one drag.
- [Pick several screenshots in the notch with Command click](https://www.notchstar.com/help/pick-several-screenshots-with-command-click/): Hold Command and click screenshots in the NotchStar tray to pick them. A drag from any picked one then carries all of them.