How to take a screenshot on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac and Ubuntu?

How to take a screenshot on Android?

Android devices are updated very often. The software, hardware and the design of the model are updated and changed. Some phones have a physical home button while some don’t. Let’s take a look at each of them.

How to take a screenshot on smartphones with a physical home button?

• First of all, open the webpage or the screen that you want to capture.
• If your phone has a physical home button, you need to press the home button along with power button together.
• A camera shutter sound will appear and the screenshot will be saved right into the gallery.

How to take a screenshot on smartphones without a physical home button?

• To take a screenshot on a smartphone without a physical home button, open the screen or app or webpage that you want to grab first.
• Now, tap on volume down and power button together for a second.
• You’ll hear a camera shutter sound that denotes that screenshot is taken.

How to take a screenshot on Samsung smartphones with S Pen?

To take a screenshot using S Pen:

• Remove the S Pen out of its socket,
• Select Air Command
• Tap on ‘Screen to write’
• The image is saved to the gallery

How to take a screenshot on OnePlus (Alternate method)

But what if your power button is broken? This is an alternate method where you can simply use three fingers to scroll on the screen to take a screenshot. It is limited to only a few OxygenOS versions on OnePlus smartphones.

• You can tweak to enable it in ‘Settings >> Gestures >> Three-finger screenshot’.
• Once done, simply open the screen you want to capture and switch down sign three fingers and it’s done.

How to take a screenshot on phones with Android 9.0 Pie?

Google has introduced a new way the user can grab the screen on smartphones with Android 9.0 Pie installed.

• First of all, you need to open the screen or the display that you want to grab.
• Now, press the power button for a second similar to how you press it to turn off the phone.
• Now, a dialogue box on the right side of the screen will appear.
• Tap on ‘Screenshot’ and it’s done.

How to take a screenshot of old android phones?

Phones with Android 2.3 or earlier or even 4.0 and earlier were equipped with the screenshot grabbing tool and therefore, if you happen to own an old Android phone and want to take a screenshot, you will either have to root the phone and install apps that provide screenshot capability or you simply have to buy a new phone though.

How to take a screenshot on windows phones?

The method of taking a screenshot is slightly different for Windows phone except Windows Phone 7.

• Open the screen or the app or website or gallery, etc which you want to grab.
• Press Windows key and Power key together and the phone must take a screenshot immediately.

How to take a screenshot on the Microsoft Nokia Lumia Series?

• The process of taking a screenshot is fairly easy.
• Open the screen you want to screenshot first.
• You need to press volume up button and power button together and the screenshot will be grabbed.

How to take a screenshot on iPhone?

The new iPhone-X has several cool features but what it lacks from the older generations is a home button. So taking a screenshot in iPhone X and older generation iPhones are different.

How to take a screenshot on iPhone 8/8 Plus and older generations

iPhone 8/8 plus and the older generation iPhones have a home button. Follow these simple steps to take a screenshot:

• Open the website/webpage or the app that you want to grab first.
• Now, you need to press the power button and the home button together for a second.
• You’ll see a brief flash on the screen accompanied by a camera shutter sound that implies that the screenshot is taken.
• For iOS 10 and earlier, the screenshot will be available in Camera Roll or All Photos while for iOS 11, the screenshot will be available in Photo Library.

How to take a screenshot on iPhone X?

On iPhone X, you don’t have a physical home button which is now replaced by a Side button.

• To take a screenshot on iPhone X, get back to the screen that you want to save.
• Press the Side button on the right and the Volume Up button on the left simultaneously.
• A camera shutter will play and thus, the screenshot is saved in Photo Library and ready for edits, if any.

How to take a screenshot in iOS/iPad/iPod?

Taking a screenshot on iPad/iPod is similar to taking a screenshot on any other Apple devices. Follow these steps to take a screenshot.

How to take a screenshot on iPad with buttons?

It is easy to take a screenshot on an iPad that has a button. You need to know what to press. Follow these steps and take a screenshot.

• First of all, located the screen that you want to take a screenshot of so that you can proceed with the next step.
• Press the Home button located on the bottom of the front display along with the Sleep/Wake button on the top edge of the iPad.
• This will trigger the iPad to take a screenshot that will be saved in the gallery.

How to take a screenshot on iPad using AssistiveTouch?

The assistive touch makes it easier to take a screenshot without using any buttons. Here is how you do it:

• To use AssistiveTouch to take a screenshot, you need to enable it first by going in the Settings.
• Go to General >> Accessibility >> AssistiveTouch.
• Toggle the option to enable it.
• Locate the screen that you want to grab and tap on the ‘AssistiveTouch icon’ on the screen.
• Tap on Device >> More.
• Finally, tap on Screenshot and the selected iPad screen will be saved right away.

How to take a screenshot on iPod Touch

There are several generations of iPod Touch and the method of taking a screenshot on all the seven generations of iPod Touch depends on the location of the power button.

• Firstly, locate the display/webpage/website/app that you want to save.
• Now, locate the power button (on the top) or Side button which is basically a power button but located on the side.
• You need to press the power/side button plus home button together to take a screenshot that will be saved in the gallery.

How to take a screenshot on PC?

There are multiple ways to take a screenshot on PC. The procedure only differs slightly from system to system.

How to take a screenshot on windows 10?

Microsoft has made it easier to take a screenshot on Windows 10. If you wish to take a screenshot and save it directly on the hard drive without wasting time opening other apps and saving the screenshot there, here’s a feature that will help. It is very simple.

• Open the screen you wish to save.
• Press ‘Windows+PrtScn’ button and its done.
• Open This PC >> Photo Library >> Screenshots to locate the saved file.

Alternative method:

• Locate the screen that you want to grab and press the ‘PrtScn’ button or ‘Ctrl+PrtScn’ button.
• Open Paint and paste file by pressing ‘Ctrl+V’.
• Press ‘Ctrl+S’, enter the name of the file and save it.

How to take a screenshot in Windows 8/8.1?

If you are using Windows 8/8.1, there are various methods you can employ to take a screenshot.

Easy method:

Here is what you do:

• On your Windows 8/8.1 PC or laptop, locate the screen that you want to grab.
• Moving further, press ‘Windows + PrtScn’ button together on your keyboard.
• A brief flash will appear on the screen and that’s how you can discern that the screenshot is saved.
• Proceed to This PC >> Photos >> Screenshots and locate the file there.

Alternative method:

• First of all, set up the screen that you wish to obtain a screenshot for.
• Tap on ‘PrtScn’ or ‘PrtScnn’ on the keyboard depending upon the location of the buttons.
• You have taken the screenshot, now it’s time to save it.
• Open MS Paint or open Gmail or any other email services and paste the file.
• In the case of MS Paint, press ‘Ctrl+S’ to save the file.
• In the case of Gmail, you can send the screenshot to yourself or the one you want to send it.

How to take a screenshot in Windows 7?

Easy method:

• Open the window or page that you wish to capture.
• Press ‘Windows + PrtScn’ and you’ll notice a brief flash similar to how it happens when you take a screenshot on your phone.
• The files are saved in ‘My Computer (This PC) >> Photos >> Screenshots.

Using the classic ‘PrtScn’ button

• This is the classic method you can utilize on any given Windows OS as it requires users to take screenshot pretty easily and here’s how.
• Set up the screen or the app/website that you want to save as screenshot.
• Now, press the PrtScn button and that must take the screenshot right there but remember, it isn’t saved yet.
• You need to open Microsoft Paint and ‘Ctrl+V’ to paste the file and then, ‘Ctrl+S’ to save it.

Using the Snipping Tool

• Search for the Snipping tool on your Windows 7 using the run or search function.
• Now, tap on ‘New’ and drag the mouse to mark the region that you want to save or tap on the full screen to do the same.
• The app will take the screenshot that you can save by hitting the ‘Save’ button.

How to take a screenshot on Windows XP and older versions?

This is the easiest feature that PCs offer with Windows operating system. Here’s how you can take a screenshot using ‘print screen’ button.

• Open the screen or webpage that you wish to save or store on your PC or laptop.
• Now, look for ‘Prt Scn’ button on the keyboard, it is usually located near Home, End, Delete keys.
• Press the button once and it will take a screenshot.
• Now, you need to save it and for that, you’ll have to either use Paint to paste it and save it or you can directly paste it in an email to yourself or somebody that you want to send it to.

6 Best screenshot capture software for Windows

There are many screenshot capture tools available for Windows. One of such is available built-in for Windows 7 and above called ‘Snipping Tool’. The tool lets users take a screenshot of the selected region on the screen and save it directly to the Photos or the Desktop. Here’s a list of other best screenshot capture software for Windows.

• TinyTake
• ShareX
• Lightshot
• Skitch
• Nimbus
• Ember

How to take a screenshot in Ubuntu?

• Firstly, open the Main Menu and select Activities and then, select ‘Screenshot’.
• Then, you need to select either the region, the current window, or desktop or use other features.
• Tap on ‘Take Screenshot’ and the screenshot is captured.
• Use the feature ‘Save Screenshot’ to save the file by naming it as desired.

How to take a  screenshot using Keyboard shortcuts on Ubuntu?

You can use keywords shortcuts available on Ubuntu as well as such as press Prt Scrn to take a photo of the desktop. You can press Alt + Prt Scrn to take the screenshot of a window and similarly, press Shift + Prt Scrn to take a screenshot of the selected area.

Use apps to take a screenshot on Ubuntu

There is a number of software available on Ubuntu which is one of the types of Linux operating system such as Scrot, FFmpeg, RecordMyDesktop, Shutter, etc that you can use.

How to take a screenshot on Mac?

The method to take screenshots on Mac OS is different compared to Windows or Linux.

How to take a screenshot of the entire screen on Mac?

• First of all, set up the window that you want to capture.
• Now, press Shift and Command (⌘)-3.
• The screenshot will be automatically saved on the desktop with ‘.png’ extension.

How to take a screenshot of a selected region on mac?

• Locate to the screen where you need to save a region as a screenshot.
• Now, press Shift-Command(⌘)-4.
• A crosshair will appear that you can scroll and drag to select a region using the mouse or trackpad.
• To cancel the selected region, press Esc (Escape).
• The screenshot will be automatically saved on the desktop with a ‘.png’ extension.

How to take a screenshot of a window on Mac?

• Open the window you wish to screenshot.
• Now, press the buttons Shift and Command(⌘)-4.
• Drag across the region to increase or decrease the area selected.
• Use the spacebar to convert the pointer into a camera and tap on it.
• The screenshot is thus saved on the desktop using ‘.png’ extension.

Best screenshot capture software for Mac

If you are looking for best screenshot capture software for Mac, you can download Monosnap, Lightshot, Snagit, etc because ordinary apps would take a grainy image if you ever wish to zoom in. You can also download Skitch, SnapNDrag, and Snapz Pro X, though some of this software is paid.

How to take a screenshot on a browser using extensions?

The screenshot tips that I discussed earlier for Windows and Mac are applicable to taking browsers as well unless you wish to use other ways to take a screenshot.

How to take a screenshot using Google Chrome extensions?

• If you open Chrome Web Store, you’ll find numerous screenshot capturing extensions such as we tried ‘Awesome Screenshot: Screen Video Recorder’.
• The first step is to search for the said app and install it.
• Now, open the screen that you wish to grab and tap on this app extension available on the status bar of Chrome.
• Select whether you want to grab an entire screen or particular region or record video, etc.
• You can add annotations and perform a number of other tasks on images and videos captured through it.

How to take a screenshot using Firefox add-ons?

Similar to Google Chrome, Firefox has its cavalry of apps and add-ons which you can find screenshot capturing add-ons for Firefox that you can add an extension. The apps like Easy Screenshot, Nimbus, Lightshot, Page Screenshot, Awesome Screenshot Plus, and others which works the same how you use extensions on Chrome and it is pretty self-explanatory.

How to take a screenshot of a website?

For Google Chrome and Firefox, you can follow this procedure to take a screenshot of the screen or website.

• Firstly, open the screen that you want to take a screenshot of.
• Now, proceed to Options on Chrome and tap on More Tools >> Developer Tools. For Firefox, proceed to Web Developer Tools >> Responsive Design Mode.
• Here, an HTML code window will appear on the right where you need to click on ‘Toggle Device Mode’ which is a small window alongside options like ‘Elements’, ‘Console’, ‘Sources’, etc’. (Google Chrome)
• Revert back to the window on Google Chrome and you’ll get an option ‘Capture screenshot’ to do the same.
• For Firefox, click on the ‘Camera’ icon on the Responsive Design mode and it will take the screenshot of the window.

How to take a screenshot of a WhatsApp status?

Well, it isn’t too difficult to take a screenshot of a WhatsApp status using default combination on keys on Android, Windows, iOS and other smartphones.

But you can also use additional apps to take a screenshot

There are apps that allow users to take a snapshot of the WhatsApp status directly such as the Apowersoft Screenshot, here’s how you can use it.

• Firstly, download the Apowersoft Screenshot from Google Play Store.
• Now, locate the WhatsApp status that you want to capture and use default Power+Volume up (Microsoft), Power+Volume down (Android), Power+Home key (Android)  and Power/Side+Volume Up (iOS) and finally, Home+Power button (iOS) depending upon the button configurations.
• You can use Apowersoft Screenshot to annotate, draw, and write on the screenshot or use overlays before saving the screen.

How to capture screen?

Search for a screen capturing app and you’ll see a list of apps such as Bandicam, Movavi, Snagit, Camtasia, etc. These are simple and easy to use apps.

For example, if you download Bandicam, you’ll get an option whether you want to capture a screenshot or record the screen as well as external or internal voice, etc.

After you are done with capturing the window, you can save it directly on the desktop or ‘This PC >> Documents/Photos’.