How to take a screenshot on Android
On almost every Android phone, press Power and Volume down together and let go. The screen flashes, a preview appears in the corner and the screenshot is saved to the Screenshots folder in your photos. Pixel phones add a Screenshot button in the recent apps view, Quick Tap and a Capture more option for long pages.
26 August 2026
The standard Android screenshot
The Power and Volume down combination has been the Android default for years, from Android 11 through Android 14 and later, on Pixel, Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei and others. It works the same on Android tablets.
- Open what you want to capture.
- Press Power and Volume down at the same time.
- Release as soon as the screen flashes. Holding too long can open the power menu or change the volume.
- Tap the preview to edit or share it, or leave it and it saves on its own.
Pixel screenshot shortcuts
- Recent apps: swipe up from the bottom and hold to open the recent apps view, then tap Screenshot under the app. Handy when a button press would close a menu.
- Quick Tap: on recent Pixel phones, go to Settings, System, Gestures, Quick Tap to start actions, and choose Take screenshot. Then double tap the back of the phone. This is the built-in version of the tap tap screenshot people look for on Android 12 and later.
- Accessibility Menu: Settings, Accessibility, Accessibility Menu adds a floating button with a Screenshots option, useful if buttons are hard to press.
Other phone brands
Most brands keep the button combination and add their own shortcut. Many Xiaomi, OnePlus and other phones let you swipe three fingers down the screen to take a screenshot, usually switched on under a gestures setting. Huawei phones support Knuckle gestures on many models, where you knock twice on the screen with a knuckle. Some phones also put a Screenshot tile in Quick Settings: swipe down from the top, tap the pencil icon to edit tiles and see if one is there.
Samsung Galaxy phones have palm swipe, scroll capture and Smart select. Our Samsung screenshot guide covers those in detail.
If you are looking for print screen on a Huawei laptop, MateBooks run Windows, so the Print Screen key and Windows + Shift + S work as on any Windows PC.
Long screenshots with Capture more
Android 12 and later can capture a scrolling screen as one tall image in many apps, including Chrome, Settings and most chat apps.
- Take a screenshot with Power and Volume down.
- Tap Capture more in the preview. If it is missing, that screen cannot be extended.
- Drag the bottom handle down to include as much of the page as you want, and the top handle to trim.
- Tap Save.
Full page screenshot in Chrome on Android
Capture more is the simplest way to screenshot a whole page in Chrome on Android. Very long pages may be cut off at a maximum height, so for a long article capture it in two parts. On a computer you have more options: Chrome's DevTools has a Capture full size screenshot command, and the NeoReader Full Page Screenshot extension captures the whole page with an editor and PDF export. Our Chrome full page guide covers both.
Where Android saves screenshots
Open Google Photos, tap Collections or Library, and look for Screenshots. In a file manager, Pixel and many other phones use Pictures, Screenshots on internal storage, while Samsung uses DCIM, Screenshots. If you back up to Google Photos, your screenshots may appear on your other devices too, so check backup settings if that is not what you want.
Some brands add screenshot settings of their own. Samsung's, under Advanced features, let you hide the toolbar and choose JPG or PNG, for example. If you share a lot of screenshots, clear out the Screenshots folder now and then, as it grows quietly and can fill storage on phones with little free space.
When you cannot take a screenshot
- "Can't take screenshot due to security policy" appears when an app, a work profile or your organisation blocks capture. Banking apps and Chrome Incognito tabs block it by design.
- Streaming video often shows black because of copy protection.
- If screenshots stop appearing, check free storage and that the Photos app has permission to show device folders.
Scan a QR code on screen, crop or save as PDF
To scan a QR code that is on your Android screen, take a screenshot and open it in Google Lens, or use Circle to Search on phones that have it. Or upload the screenshot to NeoReader's scan from image page, which reads the code on your device and checks the link before you open it.
There is no separate snipping tool on Android. Take a screenshot, tap Edit and drag the crop handles to keep just the part you need. To combine screenshots into one file, use Screenshot to PDF, and to copy the words out of one, use Screenshot to Text.
