If you have configured your Apple Mac computer for the root user account to be working, and you login as the root user, you should be very careful because the root user is an all-powerful administrative user account that allows just about any task, even tasks that might cause problems with computer operation or starting up. So, root user should only be used for diagnostic or system maintenance purposes. See the Apple support document on configuring the root user account for more details. [View]
Assuming you need to be logged in as root user, you may want to take screen shots. The root user does not have a Desktop folder which is the default location for saving screenshots. So, the root user account will not save screenshots with the default settings.
Follow these steps to correct this problem.
- Press Shift+Command+5 to launch the advanced screenshot tool.
- Click on Options.
- Under Save to, choose Other Location and select either an external storage device like a USB Flash drive, or select a folder location on your hard drive like the Desktop folder for another user account where you can save the images.
- Now when you save images, they will be placed in the location you specified in step #3 above.
- The above change will determine where all screenshots are saved. So, you can now use the advanced screenshot tool, or the screenshot shortcuts which are Shift+Command+3 to take a screenshot of the entire display, or Shift+Command+4 to point at a window, press the space bar, and then click to make a screenshot of that window.
Remember to return to the Apple root user support document and follow the instructions [View] to disable the root user account once you are done with whatever task required root access.