Taking a screenshot on your Android smartphone can be useful for several reasons. Saving content that could be deleted, sharing a screenshot to help a friend, or maybe just drawing something on it and then reposting the image on the net. For this reason it is good to know how to take a screenshot, but it is not always so intuitive since the execution changes according to the model of Android smartphone we have in our possession. To shed some light on the matter, we propose below a short guide to take a screenshot with the most popular Android models in circulation.
Take a screenshot on Google Pixel and most Android smartphones
The screenshot method that works for Google Pixels generally works on most other Android phones. There are two ways to take a screenshot on a Pixel, the first is with the hardware buttons. You need to long press the volume down and power buttons at the same time. After about one second, the screenshot will be captured. Even on most phones with Android 11 or later, there is a screenshot editor that appears when we take the screenshot.
In addition to the hardware buttons, there is also a software method. In Android 11, the multitasking screen has a dedicated screenshot button that captures an image of the first app in sight without the status bar or navigation bar being visible.
How to take a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy
Taking a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy is not that intuitive and differs from other Android models. Unlike what was described above, here if you long press the volume and power buttons, the power menu is activated instead with the default behavior.
However, to take a screenshot on a Galaxy you just need to quickly press the volume down button and the side button at the same time. A quick tap of both buttons at the same time will activate the device to take a screenshot of what's currently on the display.
After taking a screenshot, an action bar will appear at the bottom of the display with shortcuts to edit the screenshot, mark it or share it via messages, social media and other apps on your device. Alternatively, we can ask Bixby to take a screenshot for us. Just press and hold the side button and when Bixby starts listening, ask it to take a screenshot.
How to take a screenshot on OnePlus phones
Like Samsung, OnePlus makes a noticeable change in how to take a screenshot on its Android phones. In OxygenOS, the power button is used by default to access the Google Assistant. Fortunately, the process of taking a screenshot is simple and clean on a OnePlus phone.
Long pressing the power button + volume down is not actually necessary. Rather, we can simply press the power and volume down buttons just once at the same time. It is the fastest process among all Android smartphones and also allows you to take multiple screenshots at a time.
On any of the devices we have mentioned, you can find the screenshots in any gallery app. In Google Photos, they will be in your main photo library or in Library> Photos on device> Screenshots.
Image by Prayad Kosasaeng from Pixabay