How to Take a Screenshot on Android
Capture your Android screen in a second: press Power and Volume Down together. Plus the Samsung palm swipe, scrolling screenshots, and where they save.
On almost any Android phone, press the Power (side) and Volume Down buttons together for a moment and the screen flashes to confirm a screenshot. It saves to your Photos in a Screenshots folder. Samsung phones add a palm-swipe gesture, and most phones can capture a long, scrolling page in one image. On Android 16 and One UI 8 there is a newer wrinkle worth knowing: HDR screenshots are now saved as PNG files that keep gain-map metadata, so a grab of a bright photo or video holds its real colors and contrast instead of coming out washed out.
The button method (works on any phone)
Press and briefly hold Power + Volume Down at the same time. Timing is the only trick — hold too long and you get the power menu instead. A thumbnail and a small toolbar appear at the bottom for a few seconds so you can crop, mark up, or share right away before it disappears.
Samsung palm swipe and scrolling capture
On Samsung, enable Settings, Advanced features, Motions and gestures, Palm swipe to capture, then swipe the edge of your hand across the screen. To grab a whole long page — a chat or an article — take a normal screenshot, then tap the scroll-capture icon (two down arrows) in the toolbar and keep tapping to extend it.
| Method | How | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Buttons | Power + Volume Down | Any phone, any screen |
| Palm swipe | Swipe hand edge (Samsung) | One-handed grabs |
| Scroll capture | Tap the scroll icon after | Long pages and chats |
Where they go, and what won’t capture
Screenshots land in Photos or Gallery under a Screenshots album. Some apps block screenshots on purpose — banking apps and streaming video show a black frame or a security message, and that is by design, not a fault on your phone. You can also ask the on-screen assistant to take one hands-free when your hands are full.
The two-button press is the one to remember; it works on a locked-down work phone and a brand-new one alike. If you are trying to show someone the steps for something, a screen recording often beats a stack of screenshots, and to show it on a bigger display, cast your phone to a TV.
Common questions
Why can’t I take a screenshot on my work phone?
If you see “Can’t take screenshot due to security policy,” a managed work profile, a banking app, or a DRM-protected screen is blocking it on purpose. For content in a work app, the fix is to open the same thing in your personal profile; blocks enforced by an employer’s IT policy cannot be removed from the phone.
How do I take a scrolling screenshot on Android?
Take a normal screenshot, then tap the scroll-capture icon, usually two downward arrows, in the toolbar that appears. On One UI 8 you tap the arrow and the page scrolls and captures on its own; keep going until you reach the end of the content, then stop.
Where are my screenshots saved on Android?
They appear in the Photos or Gallery app under a Screenshots album. The underlying files sit in a Screenshots subfolder inside the Pictures or DCIM folder, which you can open in a file manager such as Files by Google or Samsung’s My Files.
How do I take a screenshot without pressing buttons?
Samsung’s palm-swipe gesture, asking the on-screen assistant to “take a screenshot,” and Pixel’s Quick Tap, a double tap on the back set to Screenshot, all work without the button combo. Each one is turned on in Settings before you rely on it.