Xiaomi’s Redmi line of smartphones has been one of the most popular devices on the market for many years due to its value for money. Redmi 5, despite its age, is still actively used by millions of users around the world, performing the functions of a primary or backup gadget. One of the basic but critical skills for any owner is the ability to quickly and efficiently capture the image from the screen.
With Android, as well as the MIUI, there are many ways to capture what's happening on the display, but not everyone knows about it. Standard methods may not work because of software failures, or the user may need to take a long screenshot, the function of which many do not even know. Understanding all the options available will allow you to feel more confident when working with the device.
In this article, we will discuss in detail every existing method of creating screenshots for the Redmi 5 model. We will touch on the classic key combinations, system menu settings, gestures, and also pay attention to solving common problems such as memory shortage or software conflicts. On Redmi 5, the screenshot button is disabled by default and requires manual activation in the settings.
Classical Method Through Physical Buttons
The most common and reliable way that works on the vast majority of Android devices, including Redmi 5, is to use a physical keyboard combination, which works even if the touch screen temporarily stops responding to touch or a particular application interface freezes.
To do this, you need to press two buttons simultaneously: Volume down and Power. Pressing must be short-term but clear. You don't need to hold the buttons for long periods of time, as prolonged pressing of the power button can cause the device to turn off menus, and long holding the volume sometimes activates other system functions.
If done correctly, you will hear the characteristic snap of the camera shutter (if the sound is on), the screen will blink, and at the top of the display a notification will appear that the image was successfully created. At this point, the system automatically saves the file to the gallery. It is important to note that you need to press the buttons simultaneously, with minimal delay between clicks, otherwise the action will not work.
⚠️ Warning: If you press the power button for too long instead of a short click, the smartphone may go into off or restart mode, which will interrupt your current task.
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where the screenshot does not work the first time, often because the fingers slip or the pressing is out of sync, practice and muscle memory quickly solve this problem, making the process of creating a screenshot a matter of a second.
Using the Quick Settings Menu
For those who are physically uncomfortable reaching for buttons on the case, or if one of the buttons is faulty, the MIUI shell provides a convenient software alternative. You can take a screenshot through the control panel, which is called by a swipe from top to bottom. However, by default, the desired icon may not be in the visible area.
To activate this feature, you need to deploy the notification curtain completely and find the edit button of the panel, usually marked with a pencil icon or three dots. In the menu of available widgets, you need to find the Screenshot element and drag it to the active zone, and then create the picture in one tap.
- 📱 Open the notification curtain with a swipe from top to bottom.
- 🔍 Find and press the panel edit button (usually right on top).
- ✏️ Drag the Screenshot icon from the bottom list to the top active block.
- ✅ Save the changes and use the new button for quick snapshots.
This method is especially handy when you hold your phone with one hand or when the device is in a case that makes it difficult to access the side buttons.In addition, the software call ensures that the camera does not shake, which sometimes occurs when you physically press buttons while shooting.
Setting up screen navigation buttons
The MIUI shell provides flexible options for customizing the interface, including managing navigation buttons. Unlike many other manufacturers, Xiaomi allows you to add a separate button for a screenshot directly to the bottom control panel of the smartphone, making the process as intuitive as possible.
To enable this feature, you need to go to the system settings. The path will be: Settings → Additional settings → Buttons. Here you will see the option “Add a screenshot button.” When you activate the switch, you will add a special icon to the bottom navigation bar, next to the Home and Back buttons.
This feature has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it is very convenient for those who are used to working with virtual buttons. On the other hand, the appearance of a third button can take up useful space on the screen, which is especially critical for the Redmi 5 with its diagonal of 5.7 inches and a resolution of 1440×720.
Impact on the battery
It’s also worth mentioning that when you activate the on-screen buttons, a physical home button (if any) or navigation gestures may work differently. The system will prompt you to choose your preferred navigation style, and adding a screenshot button will be one of the options available to modify this style.
The function of a long screenshot (scroll)
One of the most useful features in MIUI is the ability to create so-called “long screenshots,” which is ideal for storing long correspondence in messengers, pages of websites or contact lists that do not fit on a single screen.
The process starts as usual: you take a standard screenshot in any convenient way (buttons or menus). Immediately after you create the picture, in the upper right or left corner (depending on the version of MIUI), a thumbnail with several action buttons will appear, you are interested in a button with a down arrow or an icon resembling a scroll.
Once you click on this button, you will automatically scroll down the page, and the system will stitch the image into one long image, and you can stop the process at any time by clicking on the screen, or wait for it to automatically complete when the content of the page ends.
| Parameter | A typical screenshot. | Long screenshot. |
|---|---|---|
| Permission | 1440×720 | 1440×Variable (height varies) |
| File format | JPG / PNG | JPG / PNG |
| File size | ~100-300 Kb | ~500 KB - 2 MB |
| Application | One photo, one dialogue. | Articles, long lists |
Some programs, especially banking or secure applications, can block screenshots from being taken in principle, let alone scrolling, and in such cases you will see a message that you cannot take a picture for security reasons.
☑️ Checking the scroll function
Voice control and additional gestures
Modern smartphones, including the Redmi 5, support advanced control through voice commands and special gestures.This can be especially useful when the user's hands are busy or dirty, and touching the screen or buttons is undesirable.
To use voice control, you need to activate Google Assistant or the built-in voice assistant MIUI. Just say the phrase "OK, Google, take a screenshot" (or a similar command in your language), and the device will perform the request. The accuracy of recognition depends on the quality of the microphone and the absence of extraneous noise.
There are also three-finger gestures. In some versions of MIUI firmware, you can set up a top-down three-finger swipe to instantly capture a screenshot. This feature is in Settings → Additional Settings → Special Features → Shortcuts. If this option is not available in your version of the software, it may not be available for this model.
Using voice commands requires a stable Internet connection to handle a request by Google servers, although basic commands can work offline, while gestures, on the contrary, work exclusively at the system level and do not require a network connection, making them more reliable in poor communication conditions.
Where are the screenshots stored and how to find them
Once you've successfully taken a screenshot, the question is, where do you look for it? In the Android file system, all images are folder-structured. Screenshots are stored by default in the device's internal memory, in the DCIM or Pictures root folder, in the Screenshots subfolder.
The easiest way to access your photos quickly is to use the standard Gallery app, which has a separate album called Screenshots, where all images are sorted by date of creation, making it easy to find the file you want from hundreds of other photos.
If you connect your phone to your computer through USB-cable, the path to the files will look like this: Internal drive → DCIM → Screenshots. Sometimes, depending on the version MIUI, path MIUI → gallery → cloud → Screenshots, but the first version remains standard.
⚠️ Attention: If the device's memory is full, the screenshot may not be saved. The system will give an error or simply ignore the command. → Memory.
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Use Google Photos cloud services to automatically sync your screenshot folder, which will free up space on your phone and protect your important data from loss in the event of a device breakdown.
Frequent problems and their solution
Despite the simplicity of the feature, Redmi 5 users may face a variety of challenges. Often screenshots are not created due to a lack of RAM. If you have a lot of heavy applications open, the system can block the creation of a new image to avoid overloading the processor.
Another common problem is file corruption, and if you notice that screenshots are saved but not opened (black screen or format error), you may have damaged the gallery cache or the system file that encodes images, in which case cleaning the Gallery app cache through the application management menu helps.
It is also worth checking the date and time settings. Incorrectly set time can lead to conflicts when saving files, since the system cannot correctly assign a time stamp to a new image.
- 🗑️ Clear the cache of the Gallery app in the settings.
- 📅 Check the correct date and time in the system.
- 🔄 Reset the device to reset temporary errors.
- 💾 Free up space in the internal memory of the smartphone.
In rare cases, the problem may be in the set theme, some third-party themes for MIUI may conflict with system functions, and if nothing helps, try temporarily switching to a standard theme and checking the screenshots.
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Most screenshot problems on Redmi 5 are solved by simply restarting the device or cleaning the gallery cache, rarely requiring complex system intervention.