7 Ways to Capture Screenshot and Scrolling Screen in Android 12

Taking a screenshot is useful when something on the screen will disappear quickly. It may be the WhatsApp status of someone which can’t be saved on the phone, a scene of the video or an achievement when playing a game. Good thing is that you can easily take a screenshot of your Android phone screen using default options or with a third-party app. However, different Android phones present different ways to capture the screen. Here, we will discuss the most common and widely used methods.

Related: How to take screenshots in iPhone?

Different Types of Screenshots in Android

There are three different types of screen captures you can do with Android phone:

• Simple screenshot capturing the content available at that moment on the screen.
• Capture the app content with scrolling to take a full page screenshot.
• Get full page scrolling screen of a website from Chrome app.

For the last two options, the content should be scrollable so that you can capture the section not visible on the screen by scrolling down.

1. Use Power and Volume Down Buttons

This is the most common method to capture the screen, and it is available across variety of Android phones.

• First, press the power and volume down buttons together and wait for a moment.
• You will hear a camera shutter sound if your phone is not in silent mode indicating your screen has been captured.
• You can see the preview of captured image in the corner with options to share and edit.
• If the preview disappears, then go to your photo library and find the image.

2. Take Screenshot in Android with Screenshot Button

On some phone models the above method does not work and also many users have difficulty in pressing two buttons together which is not convenient. In such a case, there is another way to take a screenshot in Android phones.

• Press and hold the power button for a while till you see a buttons palette on the screen.
• Now, tap on the “Screenshot” button to capture your screen and you will see a preview on the screen with share and edit options.
• The screenshot image will be saved to your photo library where you can find all captured images.

3. Take Screenshot of App from App Switcher

This is another convenient way to take a screenshot of your recently used apps.

• Swipe up your Android phone’s home button (middle button) to view app switcher which will show all recently used apps.
• You will also see a “Screenshot” button at the bottom.
• Before touching the “Screenshot” button, swipe right or left on the apps and bring the desired app whose screenshot you want to take.
• Once the selected app preview is on the screen, tap the “Screenshot” button.
• This will capture the app screen and show you the preview similar to above methods.

Related: How to take screenshot in Windows PC and Mac?

4. Use Google Assistant to Take Screenshot in Android

If you have Google Assistant on your Android phone, you can give the command “Take a screenshot” to take the screenshot for you.

• First, configure the Google Assistant on your Android phone.
• Now either start it manually by pressing the button on the screen or saying “Hey Google” if enabled.
• Once Google Assistant is listening, say, “Take a screenshot” to capture the screen. Google Assistant will inform you that the screenshot is taken.
• You will find the sharing options to send the captured image to someone or edit it.
• If you want to save the screenshot on your phone, choose “Edit” and hit the “Save” button on the next screen.

5. Taking a Scrolling Screenshot in Android 12

Since simple screenshot will capture the present state of the screen, you can’t use the above options to capture scrolling screen. Scrolling screenshot is a relatively new feature in which you can capture the screen that has scrollable content (you need to scroll up or down to see the content). This feature is only available to Android 12 users and appears only when the present screen is scrollable. Go along with the following steps to take a scrolling screenshot.

• When you are in the scrolling screen that you want to capture, press the power and volume down buttons together. This will capture the screenshot as normal.
• Since the screen is scrollable, Android will detect it automatically and the preview will show an additional “Capture more” button along with the usual “Edit” and “Share” buttons.
• Tap on “Capture more” to display the whole screen showing all the items initially hidden from the view. You will see a rectangle showing controls to adjust its width and height. Move the sides of the rectangle to change the focus and dimensions of the image you want to capture.
• Once you are satisfied with the selected screen area, press either “Edit” or “Save” button.
• This will save the screenshot which you can find in the library of your phone.

6. Take Scrolling Screenshot of Web Pages in Chrome App

The most appropriate use of scrolling screenshots is for the web pages. Web pages are often long, and scrolling screenshot is handy if we want to capture the whole web page in the browser. As Chrome is the native browser of Android, it is easy to take scrolling screenshots in Chrome.

• Launch Chrome browser and open the page you want to take a scrolling screenshot.
• Press the power and volume down buttons together to see the preview of screenshot.
• Now, press “Capture more” to view the whole webpage with scrollable content on your screen.
• Select your desired area and hit the “Save” button to save the full page screenshot of the web page to your phone.

Note that due to compatibility issues, the scrolling screenshot feature may or may not work with other browsers like Firefox. You have to check the browser’s support documentation to find available options for you.

7. Using Third-Party App to Take Screenshot in Android (ScreenMaster)

Although Android’s screenshot features are enough for everyday use, there are plenty of 3^rd party apps to take a screenshot in Android. Some needs root access, while other works as it is. ScreenMaster is one of the best apps to take a screenshot in Android, and it does not require root access. It has many valuable features like a long shot in which you can take multiple screenshots and stitch them together.

• Go to Google Play store and install the app on your phone.
• Once the installation is over, grant the access to display it over other apps.
• Now, start the app and turn the on-screen capture button.
• After that, you will see a floating icon around the edge of your phone screen. Tap the floating icon to capture a screenshot.
• You can crop, edit or save the picture or stitch with other screenshots.

Final Remarks

We recommend using one of the available options in your Android phone to take screenshots. However, depending on your phone’s manufacturer there may be other ways available on your phone. In such a case, check the instruction manual of your phone to find the setup that works. Alternatively, you can use Google Assistant, Chrome or any other third-party app to capture the screen and scrolling pages.