Modern smartphones, including the popular Xiaomi Mi 9, offer users many ways to interact with the interface, and one of the most popular features is to create screenshots. This action is necessary to save correspondence, fix errors in applications, save tickets or just interesting moments from games and social networks. Despite the apparent simplicity, device owners often face questions about what combinations work in their version of the MIUI shell.
Unlike some other manufacturers, Xiaomi has implemented multiple duplicate mechanisms in its operating system, which allows you to choose the most convenient option for each individual user. You can use physical buttons, control the device with three fingers or even give voice commands. Understanding all the options available will allow you to significantly speed up your work with the gadget.
In this article, we will discuss in detail each method of creating screenshots on Xiaomi 9, consider the settings of the delay timer, work with the clipboard and solve possible problems if the picture is not saved. We will also discuss the intricacies of working with long pages in the browser and messengers, which is especially important for owners of large displays.
Classical method using physical buttons
The most common and reliable method familiar to most Android smartphone users involves using the physical keyboard of the device. On Xiaomi Mi 9, this method works at the core level of the system, so it is available even in cases where the touch screen temporarily does not respond or does not work correctly.
It is important to observe the correct sequence and duration of pressing. Buttons should be pinched simultaneously, but not hold them for too long, as prolonged retention can cause the device to turn off menu or activate the voice assistant, depending on the settings of the system.
⚠️ Attention: If you hold your phone with one hand, reaching for the volume button and turning on at the same time can be difficult.Don't try to arch your fingers, put the device on a hard surface or use the second hand.
Once you've done the action, you'll hear the characteristic shutter sound of the camera (unless the sound is turned off), and a thumbnail of the image will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, confirming that the file is stored in the device's memory, and the system automatically assigns the file a name containing the date and time of creation.
For users who often take screenshots, this method may not seem like the fastest, but it remains the “gold standard” of reliability. If the touchscreen is glitchy or the screen has stuck a protective film that interferes with gestures, it is the physical buttons that remain the only working option.
Gesture Control: The Three-Finger Method
The MIUI shell on the Xiaomi Mi 9 is famous for its rich interface settings, and one of the most useful features is to take a screenshot with a three-finger swipe, which allows you to take screenshots with just one touch, without taking your hands off the content management area, which is especially useful when watching news feeds or chatting in messengers.
To activate this feature, you need to go to the system settings. The path usually looks like: Settings → Additional settings → Screenshots (or Settings → Advanced settings → Buttons and gestures → Screenshot depending on the version of MIUI). Here you need to select the option "Three-finger swipe" and enable it.
- 🖐️ Swipe three fingers from top to bottom in the center of the screen to instantly create a picture.
- ⏱️ Hold three fingers on the screen for a second to start the countdown timer.
- 📱 The feature works in most apps, but can be disabled in some games or banking apps for security reasons.
Using gestures requires some skill. Your fingers must touch the screen at the same time and move at the same speed. If the system doesn't recognize the gesture the first time, try changing your finger angle or your speed. In some cases, using wider screen coverage with your fingers helps.
Use of notification curtain and control menu
A third way that is often overlooked is through the standard top-down swipe control menu. In the Xiaomi Mi 9, a separate screenshot icon is included in the Quick Settings panel, which is handy when you don't want to reach for buttons or are afraid to smear your screen with your fingers when using a gesture.
To access this feature, lower the notification curtain and find the icon with the scissors or rectangle. If you don't see it on the first page, swipe left to reveal the full list of available switches. Pressing this button instantly creates a snapshot of the current contents of the screen.
This method is especially useful when the phone is lying on a desk or connected to a charger in an upright position, and it is inconvenient to pick it up to press buttons. In addition, through this menu you can often immediately go to edit or send a file without opening the gallery.
| Method | Speed. | Convenience with one hand | Risk of accidental pressing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buttons | Medium | Low. | Low. |
| 3 finger gesture | Tall. | High. | Medium. |
| Notification curtain | Low. | Average. | Low. |
Voice control and Google Assistant
Modern technology allows you to control your smartphone without touching at all, using only your voice. On the Xiaomi Mi 9, which is equipped with a powerful processor and a quality microphone, Google Assistant works perfectly, and this can be extremely useful if the user’s hands are busy or dirty.
To take a screenshot with your voice, you need to activate the assistant with the phrase "Ok Google" or a long press of the home button (if it is configured), after activation, you need to clearly say the command "Take a screenshot" or "Take a screenshot." The system recognizes the command and performs the action.
⚠️ Attention: Voice control requires a stable Internet connection, as processing of the request often takes place on Google servers.
In addition, some versions of MIUI have an integrated XiAI assistant (or its equivalent depending on the firmware region) that can also understand screenshot commands. However, Google Assistant is usually more stable and can recognize Russian speech faster.
Long screenshot and work with scrolling
One of the most popular features in MIUI is the ability to create long screenshots (Extended Screenshot), which allows you to capture a whole web page, long correspondence on WhatsApp or Telegram, or a list of products in an online store in one image, rather than as a set of individual frames.
The process of creating a long screenshot starts as standard: you take a normal shot in any of the ways described above, and then immediately after that, a preview appears in the upper right corner, and there's a button with down arrows on this preview or a scrolling icon.
By clicking this button, you automatically scroll down the page, the system will flip through the content itself and glue the images into a single long tape, stopping automatically when you reach the end of the page or when you press the button again.
- 📜 Auto scrolling can stop if it encounters dynamic content that is not part of the main page.
- ✂️ After creating a long screenshot, it can be framed by cutting the extra edges in the built-in editor.
- 💾 Files of long screenshots take up more space and have high resolution, which is worth considering when filling in memory.
This feature is especially useful for saving articles, recipes or instructions that don’t require printing, but must be saved in their entirety.The quality of the final image remains high, the text remains readable even after zooming.
☑️ Checking the screenshot settings
Timer and delayed screenshot
The Xiaomi Mi 9 toolkit also includes a delayed screenshot feature that often goes unnoticed, allowing you to set a timer (usually 3 or 5 seconds) before creating a snapshot, giving the user time to, for example, open a drop-down menu, call a context window, or simply remove your fingers from the screen so as not to block the content.
You can activate the timer via the menu called by the three-finger swipe (if you select the retention mode), or through special camera applications if the standard functionality in a particular firmware version is limited. However, in most current versions of MIUI, you just need to select the option "Timer" in the editing menu of the screenshot before saving it, or use the "Screenshot with a timer" mode in additional functions.
Using a timer allows you to take cleaner and more professional screenshots of the interface, where cursors or fingers do not overlap important elements, and this is especially true for bloggers and content creators who review smartphone features.
Where to look for saved screenshots and how to share them
Once a screenshot is created, the file is automatically saved to the device’s internal memory. The standard path to the folder is Internal Memory → DCIM → Screenshots or Internal Memory → MIUI → Gallery → Cloud → Screenshots, depending on the cloud sync settings.
You can use the Gallery app to quickly access the latest images, and it has a separate Screenshots folder, where all images are sorted by date of creation, and you can send the file to the messenger, email it, or save it to the cloud.
The Android system onboard Xiaomi also allows you to share screenshots directly from the thumbnail that appears after the image is created. By clicking on the "Share" button in the preview, you can instantly send the image to any installed messenger, bypassing the gallery.
Possible problems and solutions
Despite the reliability of the system, users sometimes face situations where a screenshot is not created or saved, most often due to a lack of free space in the internal memory, if the memory is full, the system can not write a new file.
Another common reason is security restrictions in certain applications: Banking applications, incognito mode in the browser or DRM-protected video players can block the creation of screenshots, in which case you will see a black screen or a message of prohibition at the site of the image.
Problems can also arise from software failures of the MIUI shell itself. If all methods (buttons, gestures, menus) stop working, it is recommended to restart the device. In rare cases, cleaning the Gallery application cache or resetting the interface settings helps.