November 6 2026
I was trying to take a screenshot for yesterday’s blog post webloc files trigger a Gatekeeper alert in the latest macOS security updates, but the screenshot was so ugly that I had to take one from Tahoe instead. Here’s a screenshot of the empty trash window on Golden Gate:
Compare and contrast with Tahoe:
When I take a screenshot of the entire screen on Golden Gate, the empty trash window looks fine (click for the full image):
Here’s a close-up of the empty trash window from the screenshot of the entire screen:
In my testing, “Tint window background with wallpaper color” in Appearance System Settings makes no difference to the window screenshot on Golden Gate. However, “Reduce transparency” in Accessibility System Settings does make a big difference:
Below is the same difference on Tahoe:
Why are transparent window screenshots on Golden Gate so dark and ugly?