How to Take a Screenshot on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often face the challenge of capturing what’s happening quickly on the screen, whether it’s a text, an article or an in-game result. The MIUI shell (and its successor, HyperOS) offers a host of built-in screenshot tools that go far beyond the standard features of pure Android.

There are several basic methods of image capture, each of which is suitable for different situations: you can use physical buttons, finger gestures, voice commands or menu interface elements. The choice of the particular method depends on your preferences and the current task you are performing on the device.

In this article, we will take a look at all the options available, including timer and panoramic settings, and learn where to look for saved files and how to edit them immediately after creation without opening third-party applications, a basic skill that every user of the Xiaomi ecosystem should know.

Standard button combination

The fastest and most common way to do this is to run on 99% of Android phones, including Xiaomi, and to create a screenshot, you need to simultaneously press the volume button and the lock button, and you don't have to hold them for long, you just need to press them briefly for about a second.

When you successfully capture, you'll hear the characteristic shutter sound of the camera (if the sound is on) and the screen will blink. At the top of the display, a thumbnail notification will appear that allows you to immediately edit or share an image. If the reaction does not occur, check if the physical buttons are working.

Sometimes users confuse the sequence of actions, trying to press the buttons sequentially. Importantly, the press must be synchronous. On some models with a side fingerprint scanner (built into the power button), this method works faultlessly, since the system clearly distinguishes between short press for a screenshot and long press for calling Google Assistant.

This is a universal technique that works even in safe mode or when some interface elements are getting stuck, and if you don't have a touchscreen, but the buttons are responding, this is the only way to take a screenshot.

Using three fingers

The MIUI shell is famous for its handy gestures, and a three-finger screenshot is one of the most popular. To activate this feature, you need to swipe three fingers from top to bottom across the screen, and the movement must be smooth and confident, covering a significant part of the display.

By default, this option can be disabled. To activate it, go to the Settings menu, select the Additional Settings section, then Gestures and buttons, and find the Screenshot option.

The gesture is especially handy when the smartphone is lying on the table or when the second hand is busy. You don't have to look for buttons on the case, which reduces the risk of accidentally hitting the volume or waking the device. However, it is worth considering that on the large screens of some Redmi Note models, covering the entire width with three fingers can be physically difficult.

⚠️ Warning: If a three-finger gesture doesn't work, make sure that the swipe-snaping app (such as some games or launchers) isn't open on the screen. Also check if the screen is too thick to make the touchscreen less sensitive to multi-touch gestures.

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If you have thumbs, try starting the movement not from the top edge but just below to avoid accidentally calling the notification curtain.

Once you successfully execute the gesture, you will see the same animation and notification as when using the buttons.The system allows you to customize the scope of the gesture, although in standard MIUI settings it works globally across the entire desktop and applications.

Screenshot via menu and curtain

If you don't like physical buttons or gestures, you can use the software interface, and in the standard menu, called by the Menu button (three stripes) or the swipe from the corner (depending on the type of navigation), there's often a scissor icon, and clicking on it instantly takes a snapshot of the current screen.

The second software method is through the control center (curtain). Swipe from top to bottom to open the quick settings panel. Among the icons, find the "Screenshot" button. If it's not on the first page, swipe left or press the edit button (pencil) to add this element to the active ones.

This method is ideal for situations where the volume buttons are not comfortable or when you hold the phone with one hand in a position that excludes the use of thumbs. software run ensures that the camera does not shake mechanically, which sometimes happens when you press physical buttons.

Using software techniques also helps to extend the life of mechanical buttons, which over time can start to fall or lose sensitivity, especially for budget models, where the quality of the assembly of buttons can vary.

Long screenshot and panorama

One of the most useful features in MIUI is the ability to create long screenshots (scrolling). This is necessary when you want to capture all the correspondence in the messenger, a long article in the browser or a list of contacts. After you create a regular screenshot (by any means) in the notification that appears, select the Scroll button (icon with arrows down).

The device will automatically start scrolling down the screen, stitching the images into one long tape, and it will stop when you touch the screen or when you reach the end of the page, and the maximum length of the image is limited by resolution, but it usually allows you to fit multiple screens of information.

This feature doesn't work in all applications, for example, in some games or video players, scrolling may not be available, and there may be problems with dynamic content that is uploaded as you scrolle, in which case a long screenshot may be cropped or contain artifacts.

⚠️ Note: When creating a long screenshot, try not to open pop-up notifications or menus during the process.This can disrupt the gluing of the image, and the final file will look like a set of disparate pieces.

The finished image is saved in the gallery as a single file, and you can crop it by removing the extra parts from the top or bottom using a built-in editor that opens immediately after the capture is completed.

Setup of timer and formats

The MIUI screenshot settings hide advanced features that not everyone knows about, so you can activate a timer that lets you delay taking a picture for 3 or 5 seconds, which is useful if you want to capture a context menu that disappears when you touch, or a video frame that can't be paused.

To access these settings, go to Settings → Additional Settings → Screenshots (or search for settings, type “screenshot”). Here you will find the timer switches, as well as the option “Show Preview Window.” If you disable preview, screenshots will be created silently (visually silently), immediately leaving the gallery.

You can also set up a save format in this section, and you can use JPG by default, which provides good compression, but for text documents or screenshots with small details, you better choose the PNG format, because it does not lose quality when compressed and maintains transparency, although it takes up more space.

Another interesting option is the ability to hide the status bar (time, battery, network) in the final image, which makes screenshots more aesthetic for posting on social networks or presentations, and automatically trims the top bar with system information.

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Using the PNG format and disabling the status bar makes your screenshots professional and ready to be published without further processing.

Where to find and how to edit screenshots

All screenshots are automatically saved in the Gallery system app, and they have a separate folder album called Screenshots, which can be found under Albums or Devices, and the path to files in the file system is usually /DCIM/Screenshots or /Pictures/Screenshots.

Once you've created a screenshot, a floating preview window pops up in the corner, and you click on it, you get into the built-in editor, and it allows you to do basic things like framing, marker drawing, adding text, blurring sensitive information (the Mosaic tool), and overlaying stickers.

MIUI editor can also recognize text in an image (OCR) if there is text in a screenshot, you can select it and copy it to the clipboard or translate it, which eliminates the need to print text manually if you are sending information from another device.

• 📂 Default folder: Gallery → Albums. → Screenshots.
• ✂️ Quick editing: Available immediately after creation via a floating window.
• 🔍 Search: You can search for screenshots by date or content in the gallery (if cloud sync is enabled).

If you delete a screenshot by mistake, it ends up in the gallery cart, where it is stored for 30 days, and then you can't recover it without using third-party data recovery software, which, however, is not always effective on modern smartphones with encryption.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)