How to take a screenshot with a Samsung phone

Whether you’re trying to save a bit of information for later or want to share something you came across, it’s hard to find a more useful feature on our smartphone these days than the ability to take a screenshot. Thankfully, most Android manufacturers have standardized this process, so learning how to take a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy phone should be a piece of cake. Don’t believe me? I’ll show you how below!

How to take a screenshot on a Samsung Galaxy S or Note phone

There are a bunch of ways to take a screenshot with a Samsung phone, one is pretty obvious and the other two ways… a little less so. We’ll walk you through all three of these methods below.

Note: These methods apply to most Samsung Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S and Note lines, along with most modern Galaxy A models from the last three years. If your phone is over three years old, it may only support the below key combination screenshot method and not the other two.

How to screenshot on a Samsung phone using a key combination

Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central

Like most Android smartphones, taking a quick screenshot on a Samsung phone combines the power button and the volume button in a quick gesture that may take some getting used to. But once you’ve mastered it, you’ll never miss it again.

1. Open the content you want to screenshot.
2. At the same time, press the power and volume down buttons for one second, and release them.

3. You’ll see the screen flash, and the screenshot is complete.

   • Note that if you hold the buttons more than a second, your phone will either launch a long-press action with the power button or adjust the volume down. You only need to hold the buttons for a second to take a screenshot.

   Source: Android Central

4. The screenshot will be immediately shareable from the bottom bar that pops on screen (far right button), or you can access it from the notification shade instead.
5. You can also jump into an editing mode by using the center button. This lets you crop and draw on the screenshot before sharing or saving.

How to screenshot on a Samsung phone using a palm swipe

Bixby Voice can be used to take a screenshot if you’re unable to grab your phone to use the buttons or palm swipe.

1. Open the content to screenshot.
2. If you’ve already configured the phone’s side button for use with Bixby, press and hold the side button, or if you’ve configured voice control, say “Hey Bixby.”
   • By default, a long-press of the button will launch Bixby Voice, after you’ve opened it once.
3. With the interface activated, say “take a screenshot.”
4. The screenshot will be automatically saved to your gallery, where you can view, edit, and share it.
   • With the Bixby method, you miss out on the instant edit capabilities of the other methods. You can, however, string together commands such as “take a screenshot and share it to Twitter” if you want to get elaborate.

Source: Daniel Bader / Android Central

No matter how you start your screenshot, after capturing you’ll see a set of options at the bottom of the screen, including “screen capture.” This button — on the left side, a box with down-facing arrows in it — makes the phone scroll through the content on the screen and take multiple screenshots, which are then stitched together into one tall screenshot showing everything together. This is super useful for capturing a full webpage, a set of turn-by-turn directions, or a long restaurant menu. While Samsung phones have had this feature for years, Google started rolling it out natively on Android 12.

Just tap the scroll capture button as many times as you need — it will also stop automatically once you’ve reached the bottom of the screen. And as soon as you’re done you can share, edit, or save the screenshot just like any other.

To save a bit of tapping, you can also hold down on the scrolling button to capture an entire document or page in one fell swoop.

To access your screenshots for later, head to the Samsung Gallery app, which is found inside your launcher’s app drawer. Screenshots are saved in the main camera roll, but you can also head to the Album tab and find all of your screenshots in one place inside the Screenshot album.

Happy annotating!

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If you aren’t already using one of the best Android phones, there’s no better time than today for an upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy S21 comes with a stellar set of cameras and delivers consistently smooth performance. With three years of major platform updates and four years of security updates promised, you’ll enjoy this absolute unit for years to come.