Standard test protocols need several laser shots to assess the laser-induced damage threshold of optics and, consequently, large areas are necessary. Taking into account the dominating intrinsic mechanisms of laser damage in the sub-picosecond regime, a simple, fast, and accurate method, based on correlating the fluence distribution with the damage morphology after only one shot in optics is therein presented. Several materials and components have been tested using this method and compared to the results obtained with the classical 1/1 method. Both lead to the same threshold value with an accuracy in the same order of magnitude. Therefore, this mono-shot testing could be a straightforward protocol to evaluate damage threshold in short pulse regime.