Xiaomi tablet owners often face the need to quickly save an image from the screen, whether it is important correspondence, an e-book page or a video frame. In the Android operating system, and in particular in the shell of MIUI or HyperOS, there are many ways to capture the current state of the display, and each user can choose the most convenient method. Modern Xiaomi tablets, such as the Pad 6 or Pad 5 series, are equipped with advanced tools for working with images.
Screenshots are a basic feature, but many users are unaware of hidden features such as long-screenshots or automatic text recognition. Understanding all the options available will allow you to work with content much more efficiently. In this article, we will take a detailed look at all the existing methods, from classic buttons to specific gestures available on tablets from the Chinese manufacturer.
It's worth noting that the interface may vary slightly depending on the firmware version and the region the device is designed for, but the basics have remained the same over the years. We'll look at the universal methods that work on most current models, including budget and flagship lines.
Use of physical control buttons
The most common and quick way to take a screenshot on any Android tablet, including Xiaomi, is a combination of mechanical keys. This method is standard for the entire ecosystem and works even if the touch screen temporarily does not respond to touch.
It's important to keep the synchrony of the press: if you press one button before the other, the shutdown menu may activate, or the volume will simply change. The button combination will act instantly, and you will hear the characteristic click of the camera shutter, and you will also see visual animation of the flash along the edges of the display. On Xiaomi tablets, the buttons are usually located on the end face in portrait orientation, but when used in landscape mode, their location changes.
⚠️ Warning: Do not hold the buttons too long. Prolonged clamping of the combination may cause the device to be forced to restart or the voice assistant to be activated instead of taking a snapshot.
After successful image creation, a thumbnail will appear in the top corner of the screen that allows you to quickly edit or share a file. If the thumbnail is gone, then the screenshot is successfully saved in the gallery. This method is the most reliable, since it does not depend on the settings of the software shell.
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If you have a large tablet, like the Xiaomi Pad 6 Pro, it can be difficult to reach the buttons in a certain grip, and then it is more convenient to use software gestures or a stylus.
Setting and using gestures with three fingers
MIUI is famous for its customization capabilities, and one of the most useful features is to create a screenshot by swipe. You can set the system so that the screenshot is created by simply swiping three fingers from top to bottom across the display, which is especially convenient when the tablet is lying on the table or in use in the holder, and reaching for the buttons is physically uncomfortable.
To activate this function, go to the system settings. Find the Additional settings section, then select Keyboards and then Screenshot. In the menu that opens, select the option to Lower three fingers. After activation, just swipe your fingers across any part of the screen to take a picture.
- 🖐️ The gesture should be smooth and confident, cover a significant part of the screen for correct recognition.
- ⚙️ The sensitivity of the gesture can be adjusted in the same settings if the system reacts too often or, conversely, ignores the actions.
- 📱 The method works in all applications, including games and videos, where physical buttons can be uncomfortable.
Using gestures makes it much faster to use content, especially if you have to save a lot of images in a row. However, be careful when scrolling through long lists or web pages in quick motions so you don't accidentally take unnecessary pictures. The system also allows you to assign other actions to this gesture, such as creating a screenshot with a scrolling.
Creating photos through the menu of recent apps
Another software tool that is often overlooked is the running app manager, which is convenient because it allows you to take a screenshot without overlapping the screen with your fingers or the volume menu, and is especially relevant if you want to take a clean interface shot.
To do this, swipe from the bottom up (or click the navigation button) to open the Recent Apps menu. Find the app card you want, but don't open it completely. In the upper right corner of the preview card, you'll see several icons, one of which looks like a scissor or a screenshot symbol.
Clicking on this symbol will instantly create a screenshot of the app that's on the card, and it works even if the app is folded, and once you create the image, you'll immediately be taken to an editor where you can trim the edges or mark up, which is ideal for those who prefer one-handed control.
⚠️ Note: In some versions MIUI The screenshot icon in the recent app menu may not be available if Full Screen Apps are enabled for a particular game or program, in which case the system blocks standard capture methods.
The function of a long screenshot and autoscroll
One of the most popular features for tablet users is the ability to create long screenshots, which is an indispensable tool for saving long correspondence in messengers, articles in the browser or lists of products in online stores. Instead of taking a dozen individual pictures, you can get one long image.
Immediately after you create a normal screenshot (in any of the ways described above), a thumbnail appears in the top corner, and you press the button with the arrows down or the words Scrolling, and the device automatically starts to scroll down the page, capturing content that originally did not fit on the screen.
☑️ Algorithm for creating a long screenshot
You can stop the process at any time by tapping the screen or pressing the stop button that appears on the interface, which allows you to select the exact section of the page that you want by cutting the extra from the bottom, and the long screenshot is saved as a single PNG or JPG file, depending on the quality settings.
| Parameter | Description | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum length | Depends on screen resolution. | Usually up to 5-10 screens |
| File format | Automatic (PNG/JPG) | No. |
| Support for video | Not supported | Only static content |
| Browser work | Full support | It may not work for some WebViews. |
Using the Xiaomi Smart Pen stylus
For owners of the Xiaomi Pad 5 and Pad 6 series of tablets, which use the original Xiaomi Smart Pen stylus, an exclusive and very fast method of creating screenshots is available. Double tapping on the screen with a stylus allows you to instantly take a picture and go to edit it, which makes the tablet a powerful tool for working with notes and documents.
To activate this feature, you need to tap the pen tip twice quickly on the screen anywhere, and in the menu that opens, you need to select the creation of a screenshot, and the stylus allows you to immediately select the area you want to save, or start the text recognition function (OCR) directly from the image.
Pen sensitivity settings
This is particularly appreciated by artists and designers who use a tablet to create, and the ability to quickly capture a reference or save a stage of work without taking your hand off the screen greatly increases productivity, and the stylus allows you to take screenshots of a selected area just by traversing the outline of the area.
Where to look for saved screenshots and how to manage them
All images are automatically stored in the device's internal memory, and you can find them in a number of ways, but the main path is through the standard Gallery app, which creates a separate Screenshots folder, where files are sorted by date of creation.
For more advanced file management, you can use the built-in File Manager Explorer. The path to the folder is usually as follows: Internal memory → DCIM → Screenshots or MIUI → ScreenShot. Here you can rename files, sort them by folder or transfer them to your computer.
- 🗑️ Delete failed pictures immediately so as not to clog the device memory with unnecessary garbage.
- ☁️ Set up automatic synchronization of the screenshot folder with the cloud service Xiaomi Cloud or Google Photos.
- 📂 Create themed albums for quick access to important documents or instructions.
If you use a tablet for work, it is recommended to periodically clean this folder, as screenshots can take up a significant amount of memory, especially if they are in high resolution. In the gallery settings, the album hiding feature is also available, which will remove the folder with screenshots from public access, leaving it available only through the file manager.
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Regularly cleaning the screenshot folder helps to free up space and speeds up the gallery, preventing it from being inflated by thousands of temporary images.