This little-known feature of iPhones, iPads, Androids and PCs allows you to take a picture of what’s on your screen. You can then send this to people and it can be an easy way to share pictures or help you to diagnose tech issues.
iPhone and iPad
To take a screenshot on an iPhone or iPad first hold in the hold button (also known as the on/off button), then press the centre button. You should see a white flash and if you have sound turned on you’ll also hear a shutter sound. Now to find your screenshot go to your Photos app and it should be first up in the Camera Roll album.
Android
The easiest way to take a screenshot on Android is to hold down the power button and volume down button at the same time for one to two seconds. If this doesn’t work, you can hold down the power button for one to two seconds and the option to take a screen shot should appear.
PC
Taking screenshots on Windows will depend on which version you are using.
- If you’re on XP, start by pressing the Print Screen key on your keyboard. Then open up Paint (which can be found in the Accessories section of the Start Menu). From here you can right click and press paste, or alternatively use the keyboard shortcut by holding down CTRL on your keyboard and then pressing V. You should now have a screenshot, which you can save by going to File > Save, at the top menu of Paint.
- Windows 7 screenshots function the same way as in XP, except you will find Paint in the Start Menu under All Programs > Accessories.
- In Windows 8 you can simply hold down the Windows Key and press Print Screen and your screenshot will be automatically saved to your Pictures, under the folder Screenshot.
Note: on some keyboards Print Screen may appear as PrtScr, or something similar.
Mac
On Mac if you simply hold down Command+Shift+3, a screenshot will be taken and saved to your desktop. You can also press 4 instead of 3 and you will be given a crosshair in place of your cursor, so you can then click and drag over a particular section of your screen of which you would like to take a screenshot.
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