How to Take Screenshots on Any Android Smartphone or Tablet

How to Take Screenshots on Any Android Smartphone or Tablet

Taking Screenshots has become essential for our daily smartphone usage. Many of us need to take a snapshot of our phone’s screen for future reference or showing it to a friend or maybe even seeking help from tech support. Whatever may be the reason – we need this functionality. Thankfully, Google integrated the screenshot feature in Android in version 4.0 (IceCream Sandwich). In this article, we will enlighten you on how to take screenshots on various Android devices.

Capturing Screenshot Using the Default Method on Android Phones

You just need to press a few button to take a screenshot. Here is the default way of taking a screenshot:

Press and Hold Power Button and Volume Down Key simultaneously
Do not liberate the keys until you hear the shutter sound or see your screen flash
You can find the screenshot in your phone’s gallery

Many manufacturers integrate their devices with another method to take a screenshot. Here is how you can take a screenshot on your smartphone if it does not support the default mode.

Press and Hold the Power Button and Home Button simultaneously
Keep pressing the keys until you hear the shutter sound or see your screen flash
You can find the screenshot in your phone’s gallery

How to take a screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Devices

This method of taking screenshots is default for most of the Samsung devices running Android 4.2 and above, such as Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7, and many more.
The Samsung Galaxy S7

Press and hold the Power Button and Home Buttons together
Do not release the keys until you hear the shutter sound or see your screen flash
Find the screenshot in your phone’s Gallery

Many Android devices come integrated with other methods of taking a screenshot, but Samsung believes in taking cue from various iOS functionalities (Apple takes inspiration from Samsung too). That is why it uses Home Button for capturing screenshots.
For example – the Samsung Galaxy S6 allows users to take a screenshot through a palm swipe gesture, where users just need to swipe their hand over the phone’s screen. The Palm just needs to slide slightly above the display without touching the screen. With the help of a sensor, the phone is able to take screenshots.

How to take screenshots on Samsung Galaxy Devices Using Gestures:

This method will work on Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S7, Galaxy Note 4, and Galaxy Note 5.
Galaxy screenshot

Go to your Samsung Galaxy phone’s Settings
Tap on Motions & gestures
Enable “Palm swipe to capture” option
Test the gesture by slowly moving palm over your phone’s screen
Keep trying until you hear the capture sound or see your screen flash

How to take a screenshot on HTC, Motorola, Nexus, LG,and Sony Devices

This method will work on most of the phones such as HTC One M8, HTC 10, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, LG G4, LG G5, LG V10, Sony Xperia Z5, Xperia M, and many more.
HTC 10

Press and Hold Power Button and Volume Down Key simultaneously
Do not release the keys until you hear the shutter sound or see your screen flash
You can find the screenshot in your phone’s gallery

Another way to take screenshot on Sony Xperia phones

Press and Hold Power Button
You will get an option to “Take Screenshot.”
Select the option and crop the area for your screenshot
Find the screenshot in your phone’s Gallery

If your Android device does not support the Volume Down Button + Power Button method then you must try the other combination – Power Button + Home Button. These are the most popular methods that are used by most of the manufacturers.

Dedicated apps for taking screenshots

Screenshot App

The Screenshot app is the number one app on Google’s Play store in its category. It is a dedicated app for taking screenshots with a user rating of 4.5/5. One of the highlights about the app is that it lets users trim and edit the screenshot as per their requirement. Your devices must be running Android 4.3 version or above to install the app.

Screenshot Easy

Another third-party Android app for taking a screenshot is Screenshot Easy. This app allows users to choose the desired method for taking a screenshot. The user can make a choice between two combinations – Power Button + Home Button or Power Button + Volume Down Key. The app works on phones running Android 4.0 version or higher. It can be downloaded from the Play Store.

How to take screenshots with Google Now on Tap

Android users who have Marshmallow (Android version 6.0) can use Google Now on Tap feature to take screenshots. It aims at providing contextual information to users from any screen. Users just need to press and hold the Home Button to start it.
Here’s how you can take a screenshot with Google Now on Tap:

Press and hold Home button until Google Now on Tap appears on screen
Tap on the Share Button (placed in the bottom left corner) as annotated in the image above
A screenshot will be taken as soon as you tap on the share button; you can share it with the apps given in the share menu.

How to take a screenshot on Snapchat without people seeing it

Snapchat is a popular photo-sharing app that lets users send pictures and videos with an expiry duration of 10 seconds. Users cannot save the pictures or videos sent to them on Snapchat, but they can take a screenshot of those pictures. To maintain the sender’s privacy inside the app, Snapchat makers have introduced a new notification functionality that informs the sender whenever a screenshot of their media is taken. However, there is a workaround that enables taking a screenshot without the notification being sent to the sender.
Also Read: How to use Snapchat and its features
Here’s how you can do it:

Open the Snapchat app on your phone and swipe right to check latest snaps
Now Tap lo load the snap
Quickly switch on the Airplane mode as soon as your snap loads
Take a screenshot by following device specific methods given above
Uninstall the Snapchat app from your phone
Switch off the Airplane mode
Re-install Snapchat app from the Play Store

By following the above-given method, the sender will never get a notification about the screenshot taken by you.