Smart screenshots on Xiaomi: from basic image to advanced MIUI chips

How many times have you tried to take a screenshot on Xiaomi but got a cropped frame, lost important information off-screen or spent time manually cropping? The classic combination of Loud Down + Power buttons is long outdated - modern versions of MIUI and HyperOS offer tools for smart screenshots that automatically scroll through pages, recognize text and even allow you to edit snaps without third-party apps.

In this article, we will analyze not only the standard methods of creating screenshots on Redmi smartphones, POCO Xiaomi (including flagship series) 13/14), Hidden functions: how to capture a long web page in one tap, add markup using AI-Tools, or to take a screenshot with a voice command, and we'll focus on the challenges that users face after upgrading to HyperOS -- why the editing menu goes missing and how to get it back.

1. Basic ways to take a screenshot on Xiaomi

Even if you’re a beginner, these techniques will work on any Xiaomi device, from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the premium Xiaomi 14 Ultra. The main difference from other Android smartphones is that MIUI has built-in gestures that speed up the process.

• 🔘 Physical buttons: simultaneously press the volume down + Power for 1-2 seconds. On the screen will appear animation save, and in the notification panel — a thumbnail screenshot.
• 👆 Three finger gesture: swipe top-down on the screen with three fingers (default disabled – how to turn on, read in the next section).
• 🎮 Game Turbo: If you’re in the game, swipe left on the Game Turbo floating panel and tap the Screenshot icon».
• 🗣️ Voice command: Say “OK Google, take a screenshot” (requires Google Assistant enabled).

On HyperOS devices (such as Xiaomi 14 or Redmi K70), the screenshot saving animation has changed to appear as a floating circle in the lower right corner. If you don't have a button combination, check if it conflicts with the dual power tap settings (in Settings → Lock screen).

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO F5) A three-finger gesture may conflict with Split Screen. If a screenshot is not taken, turn off the split screen in Settings. → Special facilities → Gestures.

2. How to turn on a three-finger gesture for screenshots

This is the fastest way to take a screenshot, but by default it's turned off. Activates in 30 seconds.

1. Open Settings → Additional → Buttons and gestures (on HyperOS: Settings → Utility → Gestures).
2. Select a screenshot with three fingers.
3. Turn on the switch and test the gesture on any screen.

If the gesture doesn't work, check:

• 🧹 Screen Cleanliness – greasy spots or protective glass with defects can block the sensor.
• 🔄 Availability of updates MIUI/HyperOS (In Settings → The phone).
• 🚫 Conflict with other gestures (e.g. Swipe down for notification panel).

3. Advanced features: scrolling and long screenshots

A standard screenshot captures only the visible area of the screen, but what if you want to save an entire web page, a correspondence in Telegram or a list of products in AliExpress? MIUI and HyperOS have a built-in Scrolling tool that automatically “glues” several frames into one long shot.

How it works:

1. Take a regular screenshot in any way.
2. Immediately after the thumbnail appears in the notification panel, tap on it.
3. In the editor that opens, select the Scrolling icon (on HyperOS it looks like two down arrows).
4. Wait until the system automatically scrolls the page and connects the frames.

The feature supports most applications, but there are exceptions:

⚠️ Note: Some sites (such as those with banking data or paid services) may have their scroll function blocked for security reasons, in which case use Developer Mode and the adb shell screencap command. -s (guideline).

4. Editing and marking up screenshots without third-party applications

After taking a screenshot, MIUI and HyperOS offer a built-in editor with tools that are enough for 90% of tasks: cropping, blurring, adding text or arrows. But few people know that there are hidden features here:

• 🎨 AI-Object recognition: tap on any element in a screenshot (such as a logo or button) – the system will automatically select it for copying or replacing.
• 🔍 Increase in fine text: hold your finger on the text – a magnifying glass will appear with the ability to increase the fragment to 300%.
• 📋 Markup templates: The editor menu has pre-configured styles for arrows, frames, and captions (e.g., "For instructions" or "For bug reports»).
• 🔄 Cancel the last 50 actions: Unlike standard Android, here the edit history is saved even after the app is closed.

To open the advanced tools:

1. Take a screenshot and tap on its thumbnail in the notification panel.
2. At the bottom of the screen, select Edit.
3. Swipe left on the bottom toolbar – additional options will open (for example, Perspective Correction to correct curved photo documents).

On HyperOS, the editor interface has changed: now the Save button is hidden behind the swipe up, and the Text Recognition tool has been moved to a separate AI Tools menu. If you lost the editor after the update, reset the Gallery application settings (Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Storage → Clear Data).

Disable autosynchronization with Google Photos

Check the space (needs at least 500 MB)

Close background applications to speed up processing

Save the original (option in the editor's menu)-->

5. Screenshots with Voice and Google Assistant

If your hands are busy or your power buttons are broken, you can take a voice screenshot, which works on all Xiaomi devices with Google Assistant installed (even on budget models like the Redmi A2).

Step-by-step:

1. Activate Google Assistant: Say “OK Google” or hold the Home button (if you have one).
2. Say the command: “Take a screenshot” or “Photography of the screen.”
3. Confirm the action (if required).

If the voice screenshot does not work:

• 🔊 Check if Google Assistant is included in Settings → Annexes → All applications → Google.
• 📶 Make sure your phone is connected to the internet (the command is processed on Google servers).
• 🎤 Restart the voice input service: Settings → System system → Language and input → Voice input.

HyperOS also has its own voice command for screenshots, "Mi Assistant, screenshot," but it only works on Chinese firmware. For global versions, only Google Assistant is available.

💡

If voice commands are not recognized, try retraining your voice model: open Google Assistant, tap on your profile icon → Settings → Voice Match → Retrain your voice model, if you have a specific accent or a quiet voice.

6. Hidden ADB commands for screenshots (for advanced)

If standard methods don’t work (for example, on custom firmware or after resetting), you can take a screenshot through ADB, the Android debugging tool. This is the only way to capture the screen on a locked device or in Recovery Mode.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with installed ADB Tools (download from the official Android website).
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 📱 Included Developer Mode and Debugging by USB phone-on.

Screenshot commands:

# Basic screenshot (save on PC)


adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/screen.png




adb pull /sdcard/screen.png




Screenshot with 5 seconds delay (useful for animation capture)



adb shell input keyevent 26 #lock screen




adb shell input keyevent 82 # unlock




sleep 5




adb shell screencap -p /sdcard/screen_delay.png




Screenshot in JPEG format (less weight)



adb shell screencap -p | sed 's/\r$//' > screen.jpg

These commands work even if the touch screen is not responding, and you can add upload scripts to Google Drive or Mi Cloud to automatically save screenshots to the cloud.

⚠️ Attention: Teams ADB Requires superuser rights (root) to capture some system windows (e.g. lock screen or Recovery) on non-rooted devices, screenshots will be black areas instead of sensitive data.

7. Frequent problems and their solutions

Even on new Xiaomi devices, users are experiencing screenshot bugs, and here are the most common bugs and ways to fix them:

If after updating to HyperOS missing screenshots in the notification panel, check the settings Quick settings:

1. Swipe down to open the notification panel.
2. Put it on the icon «⚙️» (fast-panel setting).
3. Find the Screenshot tiles and drag them to the active area.

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If screenshots are saved in low resolution, check the settings for Screenshot Quality in Settings → Additional → Special Features → Image Improvement. The default may be “Balanced” instead of “High”.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions