# What happens to a screenshot file when it leaves the NotchStar 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.

Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/help/what-happens-to-the-file-when-a-screenshot-leaves-the-tray/
Last updated: 2026-11-04

Published 2026-11-04.

When a screenshot leaves the NotchStar tray, whether it expired, you sent it or you removed it, the picture file is left alone. It stays in the folder where macOS saved it, usually the Desktop. There are two exceptions you choose yourself: dropping it onto the Trash, and dropping it onto a Finder folder.

## Each way a screenshot leaves

| What you do | What happens to the file |
| --- | --- |
| Wait five minutes | Nothing. It stays in the folder. |
| More than 12 arrive | Nothing. The oldest drops off the strip. |
| Drag into a chat or email | The app gets a copy. The original stays. |
| Copy from the right click menu | The files are copied to the clipboard. The original stays. |
| Remove from notch | Nothing. It stays in the folder. |
| Drag onto a Finder folder | Finder moves or copies it, as it does for any file. |
| Drag onto the Trash, or choose Move to Trash | The file goes to the Trash. |

## Does NotchStar make its own copies

No. The tray shows a small preview made from your file. It does not duplicate the picture. The only thing it stores is a short list of file paths and times so that a relaunch within five minutes still shows the same screenshots. That list is readable only by your user account.

## If you cannot find a screenshot

Right click a thumbnail and choose Reveal in Finder while it is still in the tray. After it left, look in the screenshot folder, which you can see in the Screenshot app's Options menu (Shift Command 5), below Save to.

Read more about the [Trash](https://www.notchstar.com/help/dragging-a-screenshot-to-the-trash-from-the-notch/). The overview is on the [Screenshot Tray page](https://www.notchstar.com/features/screenshot-tray/).

## Quick answers.

### Does NotchStar rename my screenshots?

No. It reads the file name but never changes it.

## 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.
- [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.
- [Share Mac screenshots from the notch without losing the file](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/share-screenshots-from-mac-notch/): Capture a screenshot, find its saved file and send it from the Mac notch. Understand tray expiry, multiple selections and what happens to the original.

## 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.