How to take a screenshot on Xiaomi: a complete guide to screenshots

Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face the challenge of saving an image of the current screen, whether it’s an important correspondence, an app bug, or just a funny meme, taking a quick screenshot is a basic skill. But the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS offer many ways to do this action that many users don’t even know they can.

Screenshots on Android devices have different features than stock Android. The standard button combinations are complemented by handy gestures and tools for long pages. In this article, we will break down all available methods, from classic to hidden features, so you can choose the most convenient option for yourself.

Xiaomi smartphones today have a powerful processor that instantly processes graphics, which allows you to take screenshots even in heavy games or when playing videos without delay, and it is important to understand what method is best used in a particular situation, so as not to interrupt the gameplay or watching a movie.

Classical Method: A Combination of Physical Buttons

The fastest and most reliable way, which works on all firmware versions, including global and Chinese, it requires no pre-configuration and is available immediately after the device is turned on. The mechanics are simple: you need to press two buttons on the smartphone body at the same time.

It's a Power button and a Volume Down button, and you need to press them in sync, but you don't have to be fanatical -- it's a light enough touch, but it's clear enough -- if you hold them too tightly or hold them for a long time, the phone might take that as a command to call the shutdown menu or emergency reboot.

Important: press the buttons at the same time. If you press the volume first and then the power (or vice versa), the screenshot will not work. When you successfully capture the screen, you will hear the characteristic sound of the camera shutter (if the sound is on), and in the corner of the screen a thumbnail of the image taken will appear.

⚠️ Note: if your smartphone has a damaged volume button, this method will not work.

Once you have created the image, the system will offer you basic steps: send the image, edit it or delete it. Ignoring these buttons will automatically save the file to the gallery. This method is universal for Xiaomi Mi 11, Redmi Note 12, POCO F5 and others.

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If you have big palms and it's uncomfortable to press buttons with one hand, try pressing the volume button first and then the power button after a split second. On some high-sensitivity models, this works better than a simultaneous hit.

Use of the control menu (Curtains)

For those who are physically uncomfortable reaching for buttons or are busy with the other hand, Xiaomi has designed a software method that is implemented through a control center that is called by a top-down swipe, depending on the version of the shell, this element can be called a "Stork" or "Control Point".

To take a screenshot this way, unlock your phone and lower the notification curtain. Among the many icons, find an icon with a picture of scissors or a camera. It's usually located at the top of the quick setup. If you don't see it right away, you may need to press the edit button (often looks like a pencil or three dots) and add this element to the visible panel.

This method is especially handy when the phone is lying on the table or when you hold it in one hand and control the interface with the other, and it is also a salvation if the mechanical buttons have stuck or stopped responding due to moisture.

• 📱 Availability: Works even when the screen is broken if the touchscreen reacts in the upper zone.
• 🎨 Customization: the icon can be moved to any convenient place of the curtain.
• ⚡ Speed: requires two actions (swipe) + tap), which is slightly slower than the buttons.

Once you tap the icon in the curtain, the system instantly creates a snapshot, and you'll see a successful save notification, which is independent of the orientation of the screen (horizontal or vertical) and is equally effective in any application.

Screenshots with three fingers and other gestures

One of the most popular features of MIUI is the ability to create screenshots with gestures, which looks spectacular and speeds up the process, but by default, this feature is often disabled and needs to be activated manually in settings.

To enable, go to the Settings menu, then select the Additional (or Advanced Settings) section. Find the Screenshot and activate the Three Finger option. After that, just swipe three fingers from top to bottom down the center of the screen to take a picture.

The gesture has to be smooth and confident. You don't have to touch the screen hard, you just have to have the sensor record the motion of three points at once, and this is perfect for situations where the phone is on the table and you don't want to pick it up.

In addition, you can turn on the same settings menu to create a screenshot with a long press of the Menu button (if any is in navigation) or a swipe down three fingers (although this is less common).

Nuance: A three-finger gesture can conflict with other features, such as one-hand mode or zooming in some applications. If you notice strange interface behavior, try turning that gesture off.

Extended Screenshot (Long Screenshot)

Often, a single screen isn't enough to save a messaging message or a browser article, and Xiaomi's smartphones have a scrolling feature that allows you to create long composite images, one of the most useful features for working with content.

Immediately after you create a normal screenshot (in any of the ways described above), a thumbnail appears in the upper right corner. Click on it to open the editing menu. At the bottom of the screen you will see a button that says Scrolling (or an icon with arrows down), clicking on it, the system will automatically start to "scroll" the page down, taking a series of pictures and gluing them into a single image.

You can stop the process at any time by touching the screen, and the maximum length of this screenshot is limited to the resolution of the matrix, but it usually lasts for several screens of text, the quality of the final file remains high, the text remains readable.

This feature can be used not only in the browser, but also in Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram and system settings. However, in some applications with dynamic content loading (infinite tape), the function may not work correctly or make files that are too large.

⚠️ Note: When creating a long screenshot, try not to touch the screen or change the position of the phone if the accelerometer is turned on in the camera settings to avoid lubricating the joints between frames.

Voice control and Google Assistant

In the age of artificial intelligence, even screenshots can be taken with your voice. If your hands are busy (like cooking with a prescription or holding your phone in a tripod), Google Assistant will come to the rescue, a technique that works on most modern Xiaomi models with Google services installed.

Activate the assistant with the phrase "Ok Google" or long press home button (if configured). Then clearly say the command: "Take a screenshot" or "Take a screenshot." The system recognizes the command and executes the action. On the screen will appear a save notification.

This is particularly useful for people with disabilities or in situations where touching the screen is not possible, and it is also useful if the sensor is temporarily floundering, voice control does not require setting up complex menus, it is enough to have the Internet for the assistant to work.

In addition to the standard assistant, you can use the built-in voice assistant Xiao AI (relevant to Chinese versions of firmware), which understands commands in Chinese and English.

Where to look and how to edit saved photos

Once you've taken a screenshot, it automatically stores in the device's memory, and you can find it in a number of ways, and the fastest is through the notification that appears immediately after the picture.

If the notification has already disappeared, go to the Gallery app, there will be a separate album called Screenshots, all your screenshots are sorted by date of creation, and files can be found through the file manager along the way: Internal Memory → DCIM → Screenshots (or MIUI → Gallery → Cloud depending on version).

The built-in Xiaomi editor allows you to make edits immediately after you create a screenshot.

• ✂️ Cut: Remove unnecessary edges or sensitive data.
• 🖍 Draw: Add arrows, text, or highlight important places with a marker.
• 📄 Add a frame: make the image more accurate for publication.

File format: By default, screenshots are saved in PNG format, which provides high quality lossless. However, this takes up more space than JPG. If you take hundreds of screenshots a day, it can significantly affect free space.

To manage memory space, use the "Clean Up" function in the "Security" app, which automatically finds duplicates and old screenshots that can be deleted.

Solution (Problems and issues)

Sometimes users are faced with situations where screenshots are not created, most often due to security restrictions of specific applications, for example, banking applications (Sberbank, Tinkoff) or Incognito mode in the browser block the creation of screenshots, in which case you will see a black screen instead of an image.

It's not a phone malfunction, it's data protection, and you can't get around it with standard tools, and screenshots can also fail if the system runs out of RAM or if the SystemUI process fails, and then just restarting the device helps.

Another problem is the poor quality of screenshots in games, some games reduce resolution or frame rate when they capture a screen, and to solve this problem, try using the built-in Game Turbo, which optimizes the capture process.

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If the screenshot is not taken either way, check for free space in the memory. When the storage is crowded, the system can block the creation of new files.

The table below compares the basic methods of creating screenshots for quick selection:

To sum up, Xiaomi’s ecosystem provides a complete set of tools for the user to work with the image on the screen. Regardless of the model of your smartphone – whether it’s a budget Redmi or a flagship Mi – you will always find the right way to capture the right moment.