How to take a screenshot on any device

Almost every device can capture its own screen, but the button combination changes with each hardware generation and each desktop keyboard. Here are the shortcuts that work today, plus where the resulting files are saved.

Phones and tablets

On an iPhone with Face ID, press the side button and volume up together and release immediately. Models with a Home button use Home plus the side or top button instead. iPad follows the same logic: top button plus volume up, or top plus Home on older models, and an Apple Pencil swipe in from a bottom corner also captures the screen.

Android standardised on power plus volume down, held briefly. Manufacturers add their own gestures on top, such as a three-finger swipe down or a palm swipe across the display, all of which live in the gestures section of Settings.

Both systems also offer accessibility routes worth knowing, including tapping the back of the phone or using an on-screen assistive button. The screenshot guide lists them per model.

Mac, Windows, ChromeOS and Ubuntu

macOS uses Shift-Command-3 for the whole screen and Shift-Command-4 to drag out a region; press Space after the latter to capture a single window. Shift-Command-5 opens the capture toolbar, where you can also choose the save location and record video.

Windows 11 has three routes: Print Screen, Windows-Shift-S for the snipping overlay, and Windows-Print Screen to save a file straight away. Recent builds map Print Screen to the snipping tool by default, which you can change in the keyboard section of accessibility settings.

ChromeOS uses Ctrl plus the show windows key for everything, adding Shift for a selection, and also exposes screen capture in Quick Settings. Modern GNOME desktops on Ubuntu open a capture interface when you press Print Screen, with Alt and Shift variants for a window or an area, as the Ubuntu hub and ChromeOS hub describe.

Watches, consoles and where files land

Apple Watch needs screenshots enabled first in its general settings, after which pressing the Digital Crown and side button together captures the face, and the image appears in the paired iPhone's photo library.

Consoles use a dedicated button: Create on a PlayStation 5 controller, Share on a PlayStation 4, and the share button on Xbox pads, with the Xbox guide offering the same action for older controllers. The PlayStation versus Xbox comparison covers how each stores and uploads captures.

Capturing a whole page

Scrolling screenshots exist, with limits. Android 12 and later show a Capture more button after a normal screenshot, but only in apps that support it, and Samsung has offered a scroll capture arrow for years.

On iPhone, take a screenshot inside a supporting app such as the browser, tap the preview thumbnail and switch from Screen to Full Page. That version saves as a PDF rather than an image, which surprises people expecting a photo.

Desktops have no built-in equivalent, so browser tools or a taller window remain the practical answer.

When nothing happens

Failed captures usually have simple causes. Banking, streaming and some messaging apps block screenshots outright and leave a black rectangle or an error. Work profiles managed by an employer can impose the same rule, which the security settings guide explains.

Timing matters too on phones: hold both buttons a fraction too long and you get the power menu or a volume change instead. Press and release together, quickly.

A missing file is often just a full drive rather than a failure, so check the storage guide if captures stop appearing. To compare these menus across systems, open the simulator and browse the real settings screens for each one.