How to take a full page screenshot in Chrome

Chrome's built-in full page screenshot

Chrome's normal screenshot options, and your operating system's, only capture what is visible in the window. To capture the whole page, top to bottom, Chrome has a command tucked inside its developer tools. You do not need to be a developer to use it, and it works on Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS.

People use full page screenshots to record a design before a change, file a bug report, keep proof of a price or a policy, share a long article, or send a client the whole landing page in one file. The DevTools method is fine for a one-off. If you do it often, the extension route further down is quicker.

How to capture a full size screenshot with DevTools

The other options are useful too. Capture screenshot takes the visible area. Capture area screenshot lets you drag a box. Capture node screenshot captures a single element you selected in the Elements panel, such as one chart or one card.

1. Open the page you want and scroll to the bottom once, so images further down have loaded.
2. Open DevTools: press F12 or Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows and ChromeOS, or Cmd + Option + I on a Mac. You can also use the Chrome menu, then More tools, then Developer tools.
3. Open the command menu with Ctrl + Shift + P, or Cmd + Shift + P on a Mac.
4. Type screenshot. Four options appear.
5. Choose Capture full size screenshot.
6. Chrome saves a PNG to your downloads folder, named after the site.

Capture a page at phone or tablet size

This gives you the mobile layout of the whole page, which is handy for design reviews and bug reports.

1. In DevTools, click the device toolbar icon or press Ctrl + Shift + M (Cmd + Shift + M on a Mac).
2. Pick a device such as a phone from the Dimensions menu at the top.
3. Open the three-dot menu in the device toolbar and choose Capture full size screenshot.

Limits of the DevTools method

• It takes several steps every time, and the command is easy to forget.
• Sticky headers, cookie banners and chat buttons can appear in odd places or cover content.
• Images and sections that load as you scroll may come out blank if you did not scroll first.
• Very long pages can be cut off or render with gaps.
• It saves a PNG only. There is no crop, no annotation, no blur and no PDF.
• Some pages that scroll inside a box, rather than the whole window, capture only the visible part.

Using an extension instead

If you screenshot pages every week, an extension saves the steps. Several exist, including GoFullPage and NeoReader Full Page Screenshot. NeoReader's is free for Chrome, Edge and Firefox, with no account.

It captures the entire scrolling page, the visible part or an area you drag, and handles fixed headers so they do not repeat down the image. After capture it opens an editor where you can crop, draw arrows and shapes, add text and emoji, and blur private details such as email addresses before you share. You save as PNG, JPG or PDF, or copy to the clipboard. Screenshots are not stored, and keyboard shortcuts cover the common captures.

1. Add NeoReader Full Page Screenshot to Chrome.
2. Open the page and click the extension icon, or use its keyboard shortcut.
3. Choose Full page. The extension scrolls and stitches the page for you.
4. Edit if you need to, then save as PNG, JPG or PDF, or copy it.

Tips for a cleaner full page capture

• Close cookie banners, pop-ups and chat widgets before you capture. They otherwise sit in the middle of the image.
• Scroll slowly to the bottom and back to the top first, so every lazy-loaded image and section is in place.
• Make the browser window the width you want in the image. A narrow window gives the tablet or phone layout.
• Zoom the page with Ctrl and minus (Cmd and minus on a Mac) to fit more width. The capture keeps that zoom level.
• For very long pages, capture in sections with Capture area screenshot, or save as PDF, which pages the content sensibly.
• Check the image at full size before you send it. Thin text can blur when a very tall image is scaled down in a preview.

Other ways to save a whole page

Print to PDF (Ctrl + P or Cmd + P, then Save as PDF) keeps the text selectable, but it uses the print layout, splits the page across A4 or Letter sheets and often drops backgrounds. It is good for articles and receipts, less good for showing how a page looks.

Microsoft Edge, which is built on the same engine as Chrome, has its own Web capture tool with a Capture full page option (Ctrl + Shift + S).