How to take a screenshot on iPhone and iPad
On an iPhone with Face ID, press the Side button and Volume up together, then let go. On an iPhone with a Home button, press the Side button and Home button. The screenshot saves to Photos. Back Tap and AssistiveTouch let you do it without buttons, and Safari can capture a whole page as a PDF.
9 September 2026
iPhone with Face ID
This covers iPhone X and later without a Home button, including every iPhone 11 to the latest models.
- Press the Side button and Volume up at the same time.
- Release both straight away. Holding them brings up the power off and Emergency SOS screen.
- A preview of the screenshot appears. Tap it to crop, draw or share, or swipe it away to save it.
iPhone with a Home button
iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation) and iPhone 8 and earlier have a Home button.
- Press the Side button and the Home button at the same time.
- Release both quickly.
- Tap the preview to edit, or swipe it away to save.
- The original iPhone SE and older models have the power button on the top edge. Use the Top button and Home button together.
What happens after the screenshot
On older iOS versions a small thumbnail sits in the bottom-left corner for a few seconds. On recent versions the screenshot can open full screen straight away, with Markup tools and options to look up what is on screen. Tap Done, usually shown as a tick, and choose Save to Photos, or delete it. If you would rather have the small thumbnail, look for Full-Screen Previews in Settings, General, Screen Capture and turn it off.
Screenshots are saved in the Photos app. Look in the Screenshots collection under Media Types, or search Photos for screenshots, since Apple has moved albums around between versions.
To take several screenshots in a row, keep capturing. Each one stacks on the last, and you can edit them all together before saving.
Screenshot without buttons: Back Tap and AssistiveTouch
- Back Tap: go to Settings, Accessibility, Touch, Back Tap. Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap and pick Screenshot. Now tapping the back of the iPhone takes a screenshot. It works on iPhone 8 and later. A thick case can make it less reliable.
- AssistiveTouch: go to Settings, Accessibility, Touch, AssistiveTouch and turn it on. Under Custom Actions, set Double-Tap or Long Press to Screenshot, or add Screenshot to the top level menu. The floating button does not appear in the image.
- Siri: say "Take a screenshot".
Full page screenshot in Safari (saved as PDF)
iPhone has no scrolling screenshot for most apps, but Safari can capture an entire web page, and so can some other Apple apps.
- Open the page in Safari and take a screenshot as normal.
- Tap the preview to open it.
- Tap Full Page at the top. A strip on the right shows the whole page.
- Tap Done and choose Save PDF to Files, or tap Share to send it.
- The Full Page version saves as a PDF, not an image in Photos.
- If you need an image of a whole web page, or a PDF with a URL and date stamp, a computer with the NeoReader Full Page Screenshot extension is the easier route.
How to screenshot on iPad
- iPad without a Home button: press the Top button and either Volume button together.
- iPad with a Home button: press the Top button and the Home button together.
- Apple Pencil: swipe up from the bottom-left or bottom-right corner of the screen. This is the nearest thing to a snipping tool on iPad: take the screenshot, then drag the crop handles to keep only the area you want.
- Keyboard: Command + Shift + 3 takes a screenshot. Command + Shift + 4 takes one and opens it in Markup straight away.
- Back Tap is iPhone only, but AssistiveTouch works on iPad in the same way.
Scan a QR code from a screenshot on iPhone
If someone sends you a QR code, or it is on the screen you are looking at, the Camera cannot scan it. Take a screenshot, open it in Photos, and touch and hold the QR code. On recent iOS versions a link or a QR code button appears that you can open.
If Photos does not pick it up, upload the screenshot to NeoReader's scan from image page in Safari. It reads the code on your iPhone, handles barcodes too, and checks the link for phishing tricks before you open it.
More you can do with iPhone screenshots
To turn a set of screenshots into one PDF, for receipts or instructions, open Screenshot to PDF in Safari and add them in order. To copy the words from a screenshot you can use Live Text in Photos, or Screenshot to Text on neoreader.com. If a screenshot comes out black, the app or video is protected, which our security policy guide explains.
