5 ways to screenshot on Samsung Galaxy phones & tablets

Your Galaxy phone lets you take a screenshot so that you can quickly save an important document or maybe immortalize that moment when you reached a new level in your favorite game. You can capture screenshots in different ways depending on the type of galaxy smartphone you have. Either way, it’s a simple and convenient process.

How to screenshot with the buttons

1. Locate the Volume keys (either on the left side or right side of the phone) and the Power button (usually on the right side).
2. Next, press the Volume down key and power button simultaneously.
3. The screen will flash to show that a screenshot has been taken.
4. Take note of the smart capture menu that appears at the bottom of the screen after a screenshot.
5. The smart capture menu shows the screenshot thumbnail along with three other icons: a Share icon, an Edit icon, and a Hashtag icon.
6. If the screenshot was taken on a scroll able page, a fifth icon known as the scroll capture icon will also appear in the smart capture menu.

The share icon enables a menu where you can quickly share your screenshot to other apps. Using the hashtag icon, you can add hashtags to your screenshot so that it’s easier to find them in your image gallery. If you click the Edit icon, you can crop your screenshot and annotate stuff on it before either sharing or saving it.

How to screenshot by scroll capture

Occasionally, you may want to capture a document or webpage that is too long for your galaxy smartphone screen. The scroll capture feature is extremely useful in such a situation. The process of capturing a scroll begins as that for capturing a screen.

1. Locate the Volume down key and Power button.
2. Press both buttons simultaneously.
3. The screenshot will make your display flash once.
4. After the flash, the smart capture menu will appear at the bottom of the display.
5. The smart capture menu contains several icons, one of which is a downward-facing arrow. It’s the “Scroll Capture Icon”.
6. Tap the scroll capture icon to begin a scroll capture screenshot.
7. The icon fades away while your smartphone scroll captures the next portion of the screenshot.
8. If you need to take a very long screenshot, say of chat history on your favorite discussion group, then keep tapping the icon each time it reappears, until you reach your desired end spot.
9. The arrow icon only appears when a screenshot is taken on a scrollable page. It won’t appear if you take a screenshot on a non-scrollable page such as your home page for example.

How to screenshot using a Palm Swipe

To take a Palm Swipe screenshot, just place the pinky finger edge of your palm on the display. Then swipe across the screen from left to right or right to left.

The palm swipe screenshot gesture may not be available on older versions of One U.I. By default, this feature is enabled on Samsung Galaxy phones (Palm swipe is not available on Galaxy tablets). But just in case it isn’t, here’s how to enable it. 

How to enable palm swipe on a Samsung Smartphone. 

Go to Settings, Advanced features, then Motions and gestures. In this sub-menu, you can find the Palm Swipe to Capture setting. Alternatively, just visit the settings menu and type “Palm Swipe to capture” in the search bar. Once found, tap on the toggle to enable it.

How to screenshot through voice command

Voice command screenshots work through either Bixby Voice or Google Assistant. Just say 

1. “OK Google, take a screenshot”. 
2. Or “Hey Bixby, take a screenshot”. 

Your voice assistants can also do more complex commands like taking a screenshot and sharing it directly on your favorite social media app. Just say;

1. “Hey Google, take a screenshot and share it on Instagram”.
2. Or “Hey Bixby, take a screenshot and share it on Twitter”.

One thing to note is that, unlike Bixby, Google Assistant does cannot save your screenshots directly to the Photo Gallery. It only provides an option to share your screenshots with various apps.

How to screenshot using the S pen

Taking a screenshot with Screen Write

The Galaxy Note and Galaxy S tablets that come with an S Pen, support a feature called “Screen Write”. Using that feature, you can take a screenshot in a few simple steps. 

1. Remove the S Pen from your phone or tablet. 
2. Use the side button on your S Pen to enable the Air Command menu icon.
3. Tap Screen Write.
4. Screen write automatically takes a screenshot of the page you are navigating. So that you can write or draw on them if required.
5. Once done, click the Save icon, to store your screenshot in the image gallery.

Taking a screenshot with Smart Select

The Screen Write command only allows a user to take a full screenshot. However, there are times when you only want to save specific parts of that web page or document which you are reading. That’s where the Smart Select feature comes in handy. It’s a more advanced way of capturing anything on your display using the S Pen.

1. Remove the S Pen from your phone or tablet. 
2. Use the side button on your S Pen to enable the Air Command menu icon.
3. When the menu appears, tap on Smart Select.
4. With Smart Select, you can more accurately select the specific portion of your screen that you want to capture.
5. After which, you can draw or write on your screenshot before saving it. 
6. Smart Select even allows you to create GIFs by capturing videos.

How to take screenshots using the Edge Panel

Your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone or tablet has an edge panel, which is a translucent floating menu that sticks to one side of the display. It appears over other apps and can even be accessed on the lock screen. You can take screenshots using the Edge Panel if you enable its Tasks Panel and Smart Select Panel.

Using the Tasks Panel

• Go to Settings, Display, Edge Panels, then Panels. 
• Tick the “Tasks Panel” to enable tasks.
• Then click “Edit” and make sure that the “Take Screenshot” option is included in the task panel.
• Great! Now you can simply pull out the Edge Panel, a click “Take Screenshot” to take a screenshot.  

Using the Smart Select Panel

• Go to Settings, Display, Edge Panels, then Panels. 
• Tick the “Smart Select Panel” to enable it.
• With Smart Select, you can take screenshots of specific sections of your display in oval or rectangular windows. You can even create animations in GIF format or pin your screenshot to your display. 

How to see your screenshots

All screenshots you take on a Samsung Smartphone or tablet are automatically saved in the Picture Gallery app. Here’s how to see them.

1. Click the Gallery Icon. 
2. Tap on Albums, then scroll through and find the album named “Screenshots”. 
3. That’s where you will find all of your screenshots.

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