>

Take Screenshots from the Terminal (scrot / gnome-screenshot)

Capture the full screen, a window or a selected area to a timestamped PNG using scrot or gnome-screenshot.

LinuxdesktopscrotScreenshotimageLow risk
Run `scrot '%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/'` to save a timestamped screenshot of the whole screen.

01Command

Command
$ scrot '%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S_$wx$h.png' -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/'

02What it does

The format string names the file with date, time and resolution; `-s` lets you click a window, `-d 5` delays five seconds (useful for menus), and `-u` captures only the active window. On GNOME, `gnome-screenshot -f file.png` and `gnome-screenshot -a` (area) do the same without installing scrot. Under Wayland on GNOME, scrot may not see other windows — use GNOME's Print Screen UI or grim on wlroots-based desktops.

03Risk

RiskLow risk
Requirementsscrot (install with apt/dnf/pacman). GNOME also ships gnome-screenshot; Wayland users can use `grim` (wlroots) or GNOME's built-in Print Screen UI. Select a window interactively with `scrot -s`.
!Warning: scrot is an X11 tool; on GNOME Wayland sessions it can only capture it as an XWayland client sees the screen, so prefer the desktop's own tool there.

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • gnome-screenshot(1) - Linux manual page
    Ubuntu Manpages · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: gnome-screenshot captures the screen, a window or an area on GNOME desktops and saves it to a file or the clipboard.
  • scrot(1) - Linux manual page
    Ubuntu Manpages · technical · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: scrot captures the screen using imlib2, supports filename format specifiers like date, size and window ID, selection with -s, delay with -d, and -e to run a command on the result.

Last verified: 2026-09-18 · Category: System & Settings