How to take a screenshot without the Power button and the Home button on Android? How to take a screenshot on an Android device

Do screenshot on a mobile device Android is not at all as complicated as it might seem at first glance. In this article you will find step-by-step instructions. Moreover, this does not require any software or additional equipment.

What is Android

Android is an operating system specifically designed for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android supports many devices, and its main competitor is Apple's iOS operating system. Based on Linux, Android is a mobile and open operating system that uses its own shortcuts to perform computer operations.

Screenshots

Screenshots are pictures of what you see on the screen of your computer or, in this case, your phone. You can take a screenshot of the entire screen or select a specific part of it, and then save it as an image file. It is very practical and can be useful for various purposes.

Take a screenshot on an Android device

To take a screenshot, press and hold the buttons simultaneously for a few seconds Home And nutrition (start).

You will hear the characteristic sound of the camera, indicating that the photo has been taken. The screenshot will then be saved to your Gallery

On some Android phones such as Nexus 7 and 9 To take a screenshot, you need to press the buttons simultaneously nutrition And volume .

Take a screenshot on Samsung Galaxy S5

On a smartphone Galaxy S5 the technology is a little different.

Go to the menu Settings > Control > Movements and gestures and activate the function Take a screenshot with your palm. You will be shown which direction to move your palm across the screen. Now you can do this gesture every time you need to take a screenshot.

The pictures will be automatically saved in the section Screenshots Phone galleries.

Take a screenshot on Samsung Note 4 and Note Edge

To take a screenshot on Samsung Note 4 or Note Edge, you also need to press the button at the same time Home and a button nutrition. Screenshots will be located in the Gallery or in the Samsung My Files section.

Image: © Google.

Sooner or later, any owner of an Android device needs to take a screenshot. As an experienced PC user, you know that there is a special key on the computer for this - PrintScreen. You open the virtual keyboard, and there... nothing like that.

Just don't panic! Everything is much simpler than it seems at first glance. There are no fewer ways to take a screenshot on Android than on a PC, they’re just not as obvious. We invite you to learn more about them.

Universal method for all versions of Android, starting from 4.0

To capture the contents of the screen of a smartphone or tablet, just like on a computer, you just need to press certain keys. But not on the virtual keyboard, but on the body of the gadget. This " Power" (power button) and " Volume Down"(lower half of volume rocker). Press both buttons strictly at the same time and hold them in this position for a while. After 1-2 seconds you will hear the sound of the camera shutter - this means the screenshot is ready. After this, the system will automatically save it in the /Pictures/Screenshots or /Pictures/ScreenCapture directory of the device’s internal memory.

The method works on phones and tablets from any manufacturer - Nexus, Fly, Motorola, Sony Xperia, ZTE, Huawei, etc. The only condition is that the device must have a not too old version of Android installed, the rest is not important.

Proprietary Methods

Some mobile device manufacturers, in an effort to make life easier for their users, are developing additional ways to take screenshots. Let's look at a few examples.

Samsung

To take a screenshot on an older smartphone model of this brand, such as a Samsung Galaxy S with Android version 2.3, just press and hold the “Back” and “Home” buttons for 1-2 seconds.

On models released no more than 4 years ago, for example, on the Samsung Galaxy s2 phone and on the Galaxy Tab 2 tablet, the universal method described above is used - simultaneously pressing the “Power” and “Volume-“ buttons.

On the most modern devices, such as Samsung Galaxy a3, Samsung Galaxy j3 and others - which came off the production line no earlier than a year or two ago, the third method is used. This is pressing the “Power” and “Home” buttons simultaneously.

By the way, both options work on some devices - both this and the previous one. And on others - only the last one.

For modern Samsung gadgets, there is another way to take screenshots - gesture. To capture a picture on the screen, just move the edge of your palm across it from right to right or vice versa. By default, the option is disabled. To enable it, open the settings menu - section “Management” - “Palm Control” and select “Screenshot”.

Finished screenshots are saved in the Pictures/ScreenCapture folder.

HTC

HTC smartphones allow you to take pictures of the screen in two ways:

• Universal - by simultaneously pressing “Power” and “Volume-“.
• By pressing the "Power" and "Home" buttons. This option is not supported on all devices. If it doesn't work on yours, use the first one.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi smartphones and tablets also support additional methods for taking screenshots. This is a simultaneous press of “Volume-” and the key in the form of three stripes (menu), as well as the “Screenshot” icon, which is located behind the curtain of the notification panel.

LG

The software shell of LG Android smartphones contains a proprietary Quick Memo (QMemo+) application, which not only takes screenshots, but also allows you to process them in the built-in editor. For example, trim around the edges, add inscriptions, etc.

To launch Quick Memo, pull down the notification shade and tap the icon shown in the image below.

In addition, the universal method works on LG devices.

Lenovo

The proprietary Lenovo VIBE UI shell also contains a built-in function for creating screenshots. It is called:

• From the drop down menu.
• From the menu buttons to turn on and lock the device.

And of course, the traditional method works on Lenovo smartphones and tablets - pressing the combination of the “Power” and “Volume Down” buttons.

Asus Zenfone

Asus Zenfone and Zenfone 2 also have their own proprietary features, which are provided by the ZenUI shell.

To take screenshots with one touch, make small changes to the Asus ZenUI settings:

• Go to the gadget settings menu, open the “Asus Custom Settings” section and select the “Recent Applications Button”. Assign the action “Press and hold to take screenshot” to the button. After that, it (the button shown in the picture below), when pressed for a long time, will “photograph” the image on the display.

• For Zenfone 2: From the home screen, open the Quick Settings menu. Next, go to the “Advanced Settings” section and select the “Screenshot” option. Confirm saving. After this, the “Take Screenshot” icon will appear in quick settings.

Meizu

Chinese Meizu gadgets, depending on the model, allow you to remove the screen in two different ways:

• The first one is universal.
• The second is by simultaneously pressing the “Power” and “Home” buttons.

On Android 3.2 and older

To take a photo of the display in Android 3.2, press and hold the Recent Apps button (like on the Asus Zenfone). But here you don’t need to make any preliminary settings.

The ancient versions of Android - 1 and 2, unfortunately, do not have this function at all. To make up for the deficiency, you will have to install a third-party application.

On devices with custom firmware

Custom firmware provides Android devices with many useful additions, and one of them is convenient creation of screenshots. The "Take Screenshot" option is located right in the shutdown button menu.

On Android 6 and 7 versions

Images obtained using Google Now on Tap differ from images taken using the standard (universal) method in that they do not have notification and navigation panels. This is convenient: if you take a screenshot, for example, for a blog post, you don't have to crop it.

Via computer

A lot of programs have been written with which the user can control the phone from a computer. The bulk of them are created by device manufacturers, but only for devices of their own brand. However, there are also universal ones. One of the best applications of this class, in our opinion, is the free MyPhoneExplorer. In addition to remotely managing content on a smartphone or tablet of any model, it allows you to take screenshots and save them to your PC.

The program consists of two modules: a server module, which is installed on a Windows-based computer, and a client module, intended for installation on an Android gadget. The interaction of the modules ensures pairing of the phone and PC in three ways: via a USB cable (don’t forget to enable USB debugging on the phone), via Wi-Fi (if both devices are on the same network) and via Bluetooth.

MyPhoneExplorer will allow you to control your mobile device in the same way as if you were holding it in your hands. But now we will not study its capabilities. Our task is to figure out how to take a screenshot:

• First let's establish a connection. The desired method is set in the program settings on the PC.
• After the mobile device data appears in MyPhoneExplorer, go to the “Miscellaneous” menu and select “Phone Keyboard”.

• When the picture from the last screen is displayed in the window on the PC, click the save button.

Using programs from Google Play

Screen capture

The Screen Capture application takes pictures using both software and hardware buttons, and by shaking the device. Like the previous program, it includes simple tools for editing the finished image. Does not require mandatory root rights, but if you have them, it provides a little more options.

The functionality of the application is practically no different from the previous two: the same soft button and a built-in mini-editor with the function of cropping a frame and drawing. Requires root.

As many will think now, why write about this at all? It's so simple and clear! In fact, this is a rather necessary topic, because there is a difference depending on the OS version and device manufacturer.

Sections of the article:

Basic methods

• OS Android 4.0 and above– you need to hold down the lock and volume down buttons.

• Line devicesSamsung Galaxy – You need to press the power and home buttons at the same time.

• OS Android2 – You need to press the “Recent Programs” button.

Distinctive features of some devices

There are, for example, devices in which the manufacturers thought of this function, or in which the screenshot is not taken in the usual way. Let's look at them.

1. Samsung devices with Android version 2.3. Here, a screenshot is taken by long pressing the “Back” and “Home” buttons.

2. Samsung Galaxy Note smartphones allow you to capture screen content using an electronic pen.

3. Also, on almost all Samsung Galaxy tablets, you can save the screen image with a simple movement of your palm. To do this you need:

• go to the settings of your device and activate the “Motion” function;

• then check the box shown in the picture below;

• Now move your palm from one side of the screen to the other and back. The image will be saved.

Convenient and popular applications

On all other devices with Android version 2.3 and lower, it is impossible to take a screenshot using any of the above methods. Therefore, there is only one way out - to use third-party applications.

They can be of two types:

• applications that are needed (there are many more of them);
• applications that can run without full access to the device system.

We use the No Root Screenshot it application

To be honest, the application is quite peculiar and paid. But the main thing is that it works. So what you need to do:

1. Connect your device to PC in USB debugging mode. You can see how to do this here.

2. Install the application on your Android device. It will prompt you to download and install a version of itself on your PC. Click on the icon corresponding to your operating system.

3. Now launch the application on your smartphone. In fact, the program on the PC activates the application on the device. Now you can take screenshots.

Note: The inconvenience of the application is that after rebooting the device, it again needs to be “activated” via the PC. But still, you don't need to bother with rooting.

Using the Screenshot UX app

There are quite a lot of applications that require full access to the system in order to take a screenshot. And if you already have root rights, then by all means use them. And if not, then get them. And see exactly how to do this.

So, to take a screenshot using the Screenshot UX application you need:

1. Download it and install it on your device.
2. Now open the application and click on the “Start Service” button. A red button will appear on the screen, clicking on which will take a screenshot.

The application also has many settings, such as: button size and position, determining where to store screenshots. Also, the pictures taken can be edited (the menu appears immediately after the screenshot is taken).

Note: It is worth noting that for devices with Android OS version 4.0 or higher, the Play Market has a fairly large number of free applications that work without root rights.

Universal method for any device with any OS version

This requires the Android SDK. So download it first.

So what you need to do:
1. Connect to PC in USB debugging mode. You can see how to do this.

2. Unzip the contents of the downloaded archive into a folder located in the root of your computer’s system drive.

3.Some files from the folder located in C:\SDK\sdk\platform-tools need to be copied to the Windows\System32 folder, namely: adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll, fastboot.exe.

4.Now open the command prompt as shown in the picture. To do this, you need to type “cmd” in the search.

5. Now go to the platform-tools subdirectory of the SDK directory. To do this, enter the commands as shown in the picture.

6. Enter the "adb shell" command here. Collapse CL, it will no longer be needed.

7. All that remains is to open the “Davlik Debug Monitor” program. to do this, run the ddms.bat file (C:\SDK\sdk\tools\ddms.bat).

8. Select your device and use a standard PC tool to take a screenshot.

Brief summary

Any new generation Android device with an operating system from 4.0 allows you to take a screenshot without any problems. And if you still have any problems, just read this article. You'll figure it out. Good luck!

Many beginners and not only mobile device users sooner or later face the question: how to take a screenshot of the screen of a smartphone or tablet on Android? Or: how to photograph the screen of a smartphone/tablet? Etc. and so on.

This post should clearly answer the reader’s questions of this type. First of all, it should be noted that the methods of “photographing” the screen on different versions of the Android operating system are different. Let's start in order, namely, we will answer the question: how to take a screenshot on Android 2.3 and earlier versions?

The search giant Google, unfortunately, did not bother itself with such questions. So, in short, the function of “photographing” screens on devices with Android 2.3 and older is simply not implemented. It will be possible to get out of this situation only if the manufacturer of the device itself foresaw such functionality.

Simply put, go to Google or Yandex and enter “How to take a screenshot of the screen on...” in the search. Instead of three dots, write the model of your device. If you can't find the answer you need, try searching for the software you need on Google Play.

Taking a screenshot of the screen on smartphones and tablets with Android OS 4.0 and higher

The answer to this question will be the simplest and, for an inexperienced user, the most unexpected. It’s just that in this case, Google took into account the wishes of its users and implemented this function by simply pressing just two hardware buttons on a smartphone or tablet. Namely, to take a screenshot on Android 4.0 and above, you will need to simultaneously press the device's power/lock button and the volume down button.

The duration of the press should be only about a second. Then, after a typical visualization, your screen will be automatically saved in the Gallery or the “Screenshots” folder on your device or memory card. That's all.

How to take a screenshot on Samsung Galaxy devices

In this case, the manufacturer (Samsung) themselves came up with their own combination of hardware keys, regardless of the operating system itself. Thus, in order to “photograph” the screen on Samsung Galaxy devices, the user will need to simultaneously press the “Home” key and the power/lock button (“Power”). Or simultaneously press the Back button and the Home button. Here's an exclusive from Samsung.

Let's take a screenshot of a smartphone or tablet with root rights

This case also does not require special skills and only requires installing the appropriate application from Google Play or downloading it from a certain resource. In short, we enter the term “screenshot” in the Google application store, in the search bar, and select a similar app in the search results.

For those who do not know how to get root rights on a smartphone/tablet, but the program requires it, we advise you to review the instructions.

How to take a screenshot of a device without root rights

This option involves searching for software for Android that will allow you to take screenshots without obtaining root rights and unnecessary hassles. Although, there is one “BUT” - the list of such programs is not very large.

We can recommend “No Root Screenshot it” to the reader. This tool provides software installation on a smartphone/tablet and PC. You can download the Android version of the program from here. Video instructions in English are at YouTube, in principle, everything is intuitive.

This completes our instructions for taking a screenshot on Android smartphones and tablets. It would be nice to read in the comments your ways of solving this issue and answer the questions posed.

All popular and affordable ways to take a screenshot on Android.

The rapid development of the Internet opens up new advantages every day for doing business, finding work, entertainment and communication. One of the popular trends is the creation of blogs, websites, and online stores. Many users get the opportunity to realize their potential by creating video instructions and step-by-step guides. To do this, you need to capture a video or screenshot. Carrying out this procedure on a desktop computer is quite simple, but how to take a screenshot on a smartphone or tablet?

There are many options for solving this problem, each with its own characteristics. Let's consider in detail all the solutions.

Standard means

Manufacturers of gadgets running Android have provided for the need to take screenshots using function buttons:

• In most cases, just press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons for a couple of seconds.
• In Sony Xperia smartphones, you must use “Volume Down + Power On”. However, the function is not available for all devices, but only for certain models.
• Samsung Galaxy S gadgets require pressing “Home + Lock” at the same time. By default, Samsung smartphones save screenshots to the ScreenCapture folder. After pressing the combination, a menu appears with action options.
• Many HTC brand models also perform the function of creating a screenshot. This feature is realized by the combination of the “Power + Home” buttons.
• Starting from Android 3.2, you can take a screenshot using the Recent Programs button. You just need to hold it for a few seconds. In some cases, it is possible to use “Volume Down + Power On” simultaneously.

You can learn about the result of the action performed by characteristic sound alerts or on the smartphone screen.

On the one hand, such methods allow you to quickly take a snapshot of the entire screen. On the other hand, the user has no control over the characteristics of the resulting screenshot. If, for example, you need to display only a certain part of the screen, then standard tools will not cope.

Programs for creating screenshots

If the gadget runs on the latest versions of Android (4.0 and higher), then the most practical way to take a screenshot is to use additional programs. Here you need to know the main rule - to install such programs you need. To put it simply, the user must have administrator rights to gain additional features of the operating system.

After completing all the settings, you can begin installing the necessary software. The choice is very large, many developers have worked to create effective programs for taking screenshots. The highest quality developments: Screenshot UX, Screenshot ER PRO and MyPhoneExplorer.

There are a lot of programs, you can find them on Google Play.

Let's take a closer look at how to take a screenshot on Android using Screenshot UX. After installing and launching the program, a special service icon appears on the screen, making it easier to configure and take screenshots. The program has some additional features and functions:

• Set a countdown timer until the screenshot is taken.
• Taking a screenshot after shaking the gadget.
• Select the image format in which the photo will be saved.
• Setting the size of the service icon on the screen.

It is worth noting that Screenshot UX allows you to edit a screenshot: you can enter text comments, cut out the desired fragment, work with a brush with transparency settings and color selection. The program provides a choice of further options with a ready-made screenshot.

Screenshot using a computer

This method can hardly be called optimal, but it is definitely effective. Standard tools may not work on many models of Chinese gadgets. If the smartphone runs on older versions of Android, then the screenshot function will also be unavailable, since it is simply not provided there. This is where a home computer comes to the rescue, allowing you to take a screenshot with a special SDK program. The method is universal and works in all versions of Android. It is necessary to perform the following procedure:

• Connect the device to the PC. It is better to do this using a standard USB cable, which is included in the kit.
• Now you need to install software and drivers for the gadget. If this procedure has been performed before, you can skip this step.
• Download the SDK and unpack the archive. In the root folder of the disk (for example, D or C), create a folder (it is better to choose a short name, for example, SCR) and copy the contents from the unpacked archive into it. This is done for ease of further use and entering commands. As a result, the SCR folder should contain the following elements: eclipse, sdk and SDK Manager application folders.
• Next, in the sdk folder we find the platform-tools directory. Now we copy the files adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll, and fastboot.exe from it to the System32 system folder, which is located in the Windows directory.
• Next you need to launch the command console. This can be done through the Start menu. The command console is located in the Standard section. A faster way is to press the Win+R key combination. In the window that appears, enter the cmd command and press Enter. A black window should open with a blinking cursor for entering commands.
• The next step is to move to the desired folder. To do this, use the DOS commands in turn: cd D:\ (go to the root folder), cd SCR (go to the SCR folder), cd sdk (go to the subdirectory), cd platform-tools. Each command must end with the Enter key.
• The last entry on the screen will be the line D:\SCR\sdk\platform-tools> and a blinking cursor at the end. Now you need to run the executable file. To do this, enter the adb shell command and press Enter. If the command is executed successfully, the message shell@android:/$ will appear on the screen. The work in the console is finished, but you can’t close it yet, just minimize it.
• Through Explorer, go to the folder D:\SCR\sdk\tools\. There should be a ddms.bat file here that needs to be run. The Davlik Debug Monitor shell should load.