Xiaomi’s mobile devices, particularly the Redmi line, are well-deservedly popular because of their price-performance balance. However, the MIUI shell interface sometimes hides useful features or offers customized interactions that you need to get used to. One of the basic but critical actions for any user is to take a screenshot, or screenshot.
Owners of the Redmi 4 Pro (also known as the Redmi Note 4 in some regions) may find that standard methods do not work or seem obvious. This device, despite its age, remains relevant, and the ability to quickly capture information on the display is necessary for working with documents, correspondence or game achievements.
There are a number of options for taking pictures, from the classic button combination to advanced gestures that users often ignore. We'll look at each method, point out possible errors, and provide solutions for cases where the feature fails. Get ready to turn your smartphone into a more efficient tool for working with information.
Classical Method Through Physical Buttons
The most common and reliable way, which works on 99% of Android devices, including the Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro, is to use a physical keyboard. The mechanics of the process are simple and do not require any additional settings in the system. You need to press two buttons at the same time: the Power button and the Volume Down button.
It is important to keep the timing right: pressing should be short-term, but confident. If you hold the buttons too long, the smartphone may perceive this as a command to force reboot or enter Recovery mode. Easy enough click.
The success of the operation is confirmed by the characteristic sound of the camera shutter (if the sound is on) and a visual flash of the screen. In the upper corner of the display, a thumbnail of the image taken will appear, and the corresponding icon will appear in the status bar.
- 📱 Find the switch on the right side of the body.
- 🔉 Find the volume button (lower of the two volume buttons).
- ⚡ Press them at the same time and release them immediately.
- 🖼️ Check the file saving notification in the gallery.
This method is hardware, meaning it works even when the system experiences temporary lags or the touchscreen reacts with a delay, which is why knowing this combination is a must for every smartphone owner.
Creating screenshots through the notification curtain
The MIUI shell on the Redmi 4 Pro provides easy access to system functions through the control center, ideal for those who prefer to avoid mechanical pressure on buttons or if one of the buttons is physically faulty.
To use this method, you need to swipe from the top edge of the screen down to open the notification bar and quick settings. In the array of icons, you need to find an item called a "Screenshot" (or an icon with a picture of scissors / screen). If the icon is not on the first page, try swiping left or pressing the edit button (usually a pencil or three dots) to add it to the active one.
⚠️ Note: If the screenshot button is not in the curtain even after editing, check if access to system functions is disabled in the security settings or if a third-party launcher is not worth it, blocking system widgets.
After tapping the icon in the curtain, the system instantly creates a snapshot of the current contents of the screen, a technique that is particularly handy when you hold the phone with one hand or it is lying on the table, and it is inconvenient to reach the side buttons.
Using software buttons reduces wear on the device's physical mechanisms. For Redmi 4 Pro owners who have been using the phone for several years, this can be a way to extend the life of volume buttons, which often fail first.
Three fingers and additional gestures
Xiaomi has more advanced techniques that make smartphone interactions look like magic, and the Three Finger feature allows you to create screenshots with a simple swipe across the screen, one of the most convenient MIUI features, but by default it is often disabled and needs to be activated manually.
To enable this feature, go to the settings menu. You will need to find the "Additional Features" section (or "Extended Settings" depending on the firmware version). Next, select "Screenshots" and activate the "Three-finger Swipe" switch.
Once activated, just swipe your three fingers down the center of the screen, and the smartphone recognizes the gesture and saves the image, which can be done in any application, browser, messenger or game.
What to do if the gesture does not work?
Not only does gestures speed up the process, but it also allows you to take screenshots when the buttons are busy (like holding your phone in a game grip) and it's a software feature, so it depends on the touchscreen working properly.
Voice control and assistant
Modern smartphones allow you to control many voice functions, and the Redmi 4 Pro is no exception. Although the built-in voice assistant may not be as advanced as the competition, the basic commands work steadily, using Google Assistant or the built-in Mi Voice (depending on the firmware region).
To take a screenshot with your voice, wake the assistant with the phrase "Ok Google" or press the "Home" button (if configured). Then say "Take a screenshot" or "Screenshot." The system will perform the request and save the image.
This method may seem unnecessarily complex for everyday use, but it is indispensable in certain scenarios, such as when the user's hands are contaminated (when cooking, repairing, exercising) or when the phone is connected to external control devices.
- 🎙️ Activate the voice assistant.
- 🗣️ Say the command "Take a screenshot".
- 👀 Wait for visual confirmation on the screen.
- 📂 Find the file in the screenshot folder.
Voice control is a great example of how Android allows you to interact with a device without tactile contact, but it is worth remembering that this feature requires an active Internet connection to work, since voice processing often occurs on servers.
Setting the format and quality of the pictures
Many users are unaware that MIUI settings can adjust the settings of the images you create. Although the basic resolution corresponds to the screen resolution of Redmi 4 Pro (Full HD 1080x1920), there are nuances with file formats and additional data.
In the screenshot settings section, you can include a watermark display with the device model and time of creation. This can be useful for proving the time of the event, but often looks like unnecessary noise on the image, and you can choose whether to save the thumbnail after creation or delete it automatically after 5 seconds.
| Parameter | Description | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Permission | 1080 x 1920 pixels | Leave it by default |
| Format | PNG / JPG | PNG for text, JPG for photo |
| Sound. | Shutter sound | Insert for confirmation |
| Watermark | Model and time | Turn off for clean frame |
The choice of file format matters. The PNG format provides lossless compression, which is ideal for screenshots with text, graphs or interfaces where boundary clarity is important. The JPG format takes up less space but can contribute compression artifacts, which is noticeable on homogeneous backgrounds.
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To keep your text screenshots as high as possible, always choose the PNG format in the settings if this option is available in your MIUI version, or use third-party screen capture apps.
Long screenshot (Scroll)
One of the most popular features in Xiaomi is to create long screenshots, which lets you capture all the correspondence in the messenger, a long article in the browser or a list of contacts in the whole, rather than in single pieces. On Redmi 4 Pro, this feature is built into the standard mechanism of taking pictures.
Immediately after you have taken a regular screenshot (with buttons or through a curtain), a thumbnail plaque will appear in the upper corner, it will have several control buttons on it, you are interested in a button with a down arrow or the inscription "Scroll".
Click on this button and the screen will automatically scroll down, capturing new content and "stitching" it with the previous frame. The process continues until you hit the stop button or reach the end of the page.
⚠️ Note: The long screenshot feature may not work in applications that prohibit screen capture for security reasons (e.g. banking apps or incognito mode in the browser.
The result is one long image that can be edited, cut through the extra parts, right in the standard gallery editor, and it's a powerful tool for creating instructions or preserving the evidence base of correspondence.
☑️ Checking the function of a long screenshot
Where are the screenshots stored and how to find them
Once a screenshot is created, the file is stored in the device's internal memory, and the path to it is standard for the Android file system, but in the MIUI shell, access is organized through the Gallery or Explorer application.
In the Gallery app, screenshots are automatically sorted into a separate album called Screenshots, which eliminates the need to dig into the general flow of photos. If you use a file manager, look for a folder along the way: Internal memory → DCIM → Screenshots or internal memory → MIUI → gallery_cloud → Screenshots (depending on the system version).
To quickly access the last shot you took, you can use a widget on your desktop or simply open a notification that stays hanging in the curtain until you swipe it or click on it.
Understanding folder structure is important when connecting your phone to your computer to transfer files. If you can't find screenshots via USB, make sure that the connection mode selects "File Transfer (MTP)" rather than "Facing Only."
The solution: why the screenshot doesn't work
Sometimes users are faced with a situation where none of the methods work: the screen flashes, but the file is not saved, or the system writes an error "failed to save." This can be caused by several reasons, from a lack of memory to software conflicts.
The first thing to check is that there is free space in the internal memory. If the Redmi 4 Pro memory is full, the system will not be physically able to write a new image file. Cleaning the cache or deleting unnecessary videos often solves the problem.
The second reason may be access rights, and some applications, especially financial or corporate ones, block the ability to take screenshots at the security level (DRM-In such cases, the screen may simply turn black when it attempts to capture, and this is normal behavior, not a mistake.
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If screenshots are no longer saved, 80% of the time the problem is solved by clearing the memory space or restarting the device, which resets the temporary errors of the screen capture service.
It's also worth checking the date and time settings. If the system has a time-distorted experience, it can conflict with the file naming mechanism, since the file name is often formed based on a time-stamp, and setting up automatic time synchronization eliminates this bug.