You want to save what is on your screen — a funny chat, a receipt, an error message to show support — and the phone gives you no button for it. There is no "screenshot" icon in Settings and no menu item for it. The feature is hidden behind a pair of hardware buttons, and the pair changes with the phone you own. Press the wrong combination and you lock the screen or turn the volume down instead.
This guide covers the buttons for every model, scrolling screenshots of whole pages, the no-button methods for broken buttons or one-handed use, and what to do when a screenshot refuses to work.
Screenshot on iPhone
Apple's method depends on which buttons your iPhone has. The press is always the same: press both buttons at the same time and release them quickly. Holding them down does nothing extra, and pressing one a moment before the other usually just locks the screen or changes the volume.
| iPhone model | Buttons to press together |
|---|---|
| iPhone with Face ID (iPhone X and later, no Home button) | Side button + Volume Up |
| iPhone with a Home button and a side button (iPhone 6 and later) | Side button + Home button |
| iPhone with a Home button and a top button (iPhone 5s and earlier) | Top button + Home button |
After the flash, a small thumbnail appears in the lower-left corner. Tap it to edit or share the screenshot straight away, or swipe it left to dismiss it — the picture is already saved either way. Your screenshots live in the Photos app under Collections > Media Types > Screenshots, so you never have to scroll through your camera roll to find one.
Apple documents every model on its Take a screenshot on your iPhone support page.
Screenshot on Android
Android keeps it simpler: one combination works on nearly every phone, whatever the brand. Open the screen you want to capture, press the power button and the volume down button at the same time, then release. The screen flashes, a thumbnail or toolbar appears, and the picture is saved automatically.
On a Samsung Galaxy phone the power button is called the side button, and the combination is the same — side button plus volume down. Samsung's own advice is to press briefly: holding both buttons too long opens the power menu instead of taking the screenshot.
Google lists the same steps on its How to take a screenshot on Android page, including the Quick Settings tile: swipe down twice from the top of the screen and tap the Screenshot tile.
Take a scrolling screenshot of a whole page
A normal screenshot only captures what is on screen right now. For a long article, a full chat thread or a settings page, use the scrolling capture — one tall image instead of five separate ones.
- iPhone, in Safari: take a screenshot as normal, tap the thumbnail in the lower-left corner, then tap Full Page. Tap Done and choose Save PDF to Files. This works for web pages in Safari; in most other apps the Full Page option does not appear.
- Google Pixel: take a screenshot, then tap Capture more in the toolbar that appears. Drag the edges to choose how much of the page to include, then tap Save. Google notes this needs Android 12 or later and a screen that can scroll.
- Samsung Galaxy: take a screenshot, then tap the Scroll capture icon (two downward arrows) in the toolbar. Tap it again to keep extending the capture, then tap Done or let it stop when the page ends.
Screenshot without pressing any buttons
Buttons are the fastest way, but they are not the only way. These are worth setting up if a button is broken, if pressing two buttons at once is awkward, or if you take screenshots one-handed.
- iPhone — Back Tap: go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap, choose Double Tap or Triple Tap, then select Screenshot. Double-tap the back of the phone and it captures. Apple lists Back Tap for iPhone 8 or later with iOS 14 or later.
- iPhone — AssistiveTouch: go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch and turn it on. Tap the floating button, then Device > More > Screenshot. You can also set a single tap on the floating button to take a screenshot directly.
- iPhone — Siri: say "Hey Siri, take a screenshot." It works hands-free, and the picture is saved the same way.
- Pixel — Quick Tap: go to Settings > System > Gestures > Quick Tap, turn it on and set the action to Take screenshot, then double-tap the back of the phone. Google lists this for Pixel 4a (5G) and later models.
- Pixel — Overview: swipe up from the bottom and hold to open the recent-apps screen, then tap Screenshot under the app card you want to capture.
- Samsung — Palm swipe: go to Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures and turn on Palm swipe to capture. Then swipe the edge of your hand across the screen, left to right or right to left.
- Samsung — Bixby: say "Hi Bixby, take a screenshot." On Galaxy phones with an S Pen, open Air command and choose Screen write to capture and write on the screen in one step.
- Any Android — voice: say "Hey Google, take a screenshot." Google Assistant captures the screen and offers to share it immediately.
Where your screenshots are saved
Screenshots are saved as ordinary image files, so they show up in your photo apps — but each platform keeps them in its own album, which is where most people lose them.
| Phone | Where to find screenshots |
|---|---|
| iPhone | Photos app > Collections > Media Types > Screenshots |
| Google Pixel | Photos app > Collections > On this device > Screenshots |
| Samsung Galaxy | Gallery app > Albums > Screenshots |
| Other Android | Photos or Gallery app > Screenshots album or folder |
If you share a screenshot straight from the thumbnail that appears after capturing, you do not need to find the file at all — but if you dismissed the thumbnail, the album above is the fastest way back to it.
Edit and share a screenshot
The thumbnail that appears after a capture is the shortcut to everything else. Tap it and you get the editor: crop the edges, draw or highlight with markup, add text, and then share or save. On iPhone, tapping Done asks whether to save to Photos or delete the screenshot; on Android the toolbar usually offers Share, Edit and Delete right away.
Cropping first is worth the five seconds. A screenshot of a chat usually includes the status bar, the time and the battery icon, and a screenshot of a web page includes the address bar — none of that is part of what you want to show, and cropping it out makes the image easier to read for whoever receives it.
If you need a moving picture of your screen instead — to show someone a process rather than a single moment — our guide to screen recording on iPhone and Android covers that, and it uses the same idea: no app to install, the tool is already on the phone.
If the screenshot does not work
Screenshots fail in a handful of predictable ways. Work through these before assuming the phone is broken:
- The screen locks or the volume changes instead. You pressed one button before the other. Press both at exactly the same time and release quickly — a short squeeze, not a hold.
- The power menu opens instead. You held the buttons too long, most often on a Samsung. A brief press is enough; let go as soon as the screen flashes.
- Nothing happens in a particular app. Some apps block screenshots on purpose: banking apps, DRM-protected video such as Netflix, and some work apps disable screen capture for security. There is no setting that overrides this — it is the app's choice, and it applies to every phone.
- The buttons are broken or unreachable. Use one of the no-button methods above — Back Tap or AssistiveTouch on iPhone, Quick Tap or the Overview button on Pixel, palm swipe on Samsung. All of them are built in.
- The screenshot is there, but you cannot find it. It is in the Screenshots album listed above, not mixed into your camera roll's latest photos. On Android, some file managers also file screenshots under a DCIM or Pictures folder.
FAQ
Where do screenshots go on iPhone?
To the Photos app, in the Screenshots album under Collections > Media Types. The screenshot is saved automatically the moment you take it, whether or not you tap the thumbnail.
Where do screenshots go on Android?
To a Screenshots album in your Photos or Gallery app — on a Pixel it is Photos > Collections > On this device > Screenshots, on a Samsung it is Gallery > Albums > Screenshots. The exact path varies a little by brand, but the album is always called Screenshots.
Can I take a screenshot of a whole web page?
Yes. On iPhone, take a screenshot in Safari, tap the thumbnail and choose Full Page, then save it as a PDF to Files. On Android 12 and later, take a screenshot and tap Capture more (Pixel) or Scroll capture (Samsung) to extend the image down the page.
Why can't I take a screenshot in some apps?
The app is blocking it. Banking apps, apps playing DRM-protected video and some work apps disable screen capture for security, and the block is enforced by the operating system — no setting on your phone turns it off. If the screen goes black in the capture, that is the block working as intended.
How do I take a screenshot if a button is broken?
On iPhone, set up Back Tap (Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap) or AssistiveTouch so a tap on the back of the phone or on a floating button captures the screen. On a Pixel, use Quick Tap or the Screenshot button in the recent-apps screen; on a Samsung, turn on Palm swipe to capture. Voice works too: "Hey Siri, take a screenshot" or "Hey Google, take a screenshot."
Do screenshots take up much storage?
No. A single screenshot is a small image file, usually a few hundred kilobytes to a couple of megabytes, so even hundreds of them rarely fill a phone. If storage is tight, the photos and videos in your camera roll are the bigger problem — and screenshots are easy to find and delete in bulk from the Screenshots album.
Can I take a screenshot on my phone with my voice?
Yes, on both platforms. On iPhone, say "Hey Siri, take a screenshot." On Android, say "Hey Google, take a screenshot," or "Hi Bixby, take a screenshot" on a Samsung. The picture is saved exactly as if you had pressed the buttons.