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Screenshots are handy. You can use them to show your grandparent how to use a new app. You can use them to send a shot of that strange error message to your company’s IT department. You can use them to capture tweets — yours or someone else’s —before they disappear down the deletion black hole.
Methods to take screenshots can differ depending on the version of Android your phone is running and also on who manufactured your phone. In this case, we used a Pixel 3 phone to create screenshots using Android 12 and Android 11 and an original Pixel to create screenshots with Android 10. Your mileage may vary, but this could give you at least some direction, even if you’re using a different type of phone.
Take screenshots with Android 12
Note that a small version of your screenshot will appear in the bottom left, along with buttons to let you share or edit it — or possibly, to take a scrolling screenshot (which I’ll explain in a moment). You can also tap on the screenshot to get more options. But hurry — that corner version disappears in a few seconds.
Take scrolling screenshots with Android 12
One really nice feature in Android 12 is the ability to take scrolling screenshots — in other words, to get more of the page than you immediately see on your screen. Unfortunately, the feature seems to be a bit limited so far: for example, I was able to take a scrolling screenshot of my Settings app, but it did not work in Chrome (which is probably the place where most people would want one). At any rate, here’s how you do one:
Take screenshots with Android 11
Take screenshots with Android 10
Some Android phones (for example, certain Samsung and Huawei phones) let you take “long” screenshots, where you can scroll the screen down and capture the entire page. Check your phone’s support pages if you think you might have that. It can be handy.
Find your screenshots
If you want to find all your past screenshots, and you’re using Android 10 or earlier:
If you want to find all your past screenshots, and you’re using Android 11:
Update October 1st, 2020, 11:45AM ET: This article was originally published on July 27th, 2020, and has been updated to include directions for Android 11.
Update October 4th, 2021 10:45AM ET: Updated to include directions for Android 12.
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