How to take a screenshot on Xiaomi Redmi 4: full instructions

Taking screenshots on Xiaomi devices, especially on time-tested models like Redmi 4, is a basic but critical feature for most users. The owners of these smartphones often face the need to save correspondence, an in-app bug or an interesting moment from the game, and knowing all the available methods makes life much easier. Despite the fact that the model was released several years ago, its MIUI software shell remains one of the most functional in its class.

In this article, we will explore in detail all possible ways to create screenshots, from classic mechanical buttons to advanced system functions, learn how to use smart gestures, voice control and even third-party applications to automate the process, and explore typical problems when the image is not saved, and how to quickly fix them.

We’ll focus on settings that are often hidden from the eyes of the average user, but can dramatically change usability. Understanding how the clipboard and gallery work in MIUI will allow you to not only take pictures, but also manage them effectively.

Standard methods for creating screenshots

The fastest and most time-tested way to capture the contents of a display is to use a physical keyboard on a smartphone. On Redmi 4, this combination works at the system level and is independent of the firmware version or the applications running. You need to press and hold down the Volume Down and Power buttons for a short time at the same time. It is the simultaneous press that matters: if you press one button before the other, the smartphone can perceive this as a command to turn off or change the volume.

Once the action is successfully performed, the characteristic sound of the camera shutter is heard, and the screen blinks. At the top of the display, a notification of the image created will appear, which can also be immediately edited or sent, which is considered “hardware” and works even in those rare cases when the touch layer temporarily fails or the system is in a high load state.

For users who have a physical difficulty pressing two buttons at once, there is an alternative software method: In the notification curtain that is called by the top-down swipe, there is a screenshot button, and pressing it produces the same result as the key combination, but requires only one hand, which is especially convenient when the phone is lying on the table or holding in one hand.

⚠️ Attention: When using mechanical buttons frequently (especially on older devices), there is a risk of physical wear and tear. Try not to put too much effort and alternate methods of taking pictures.

There's another thing that's not all that's known about: If you press the screenshot buttons a little longer than usual, the system might suggest taking a long screenshot (scrollable shot), which is useful for saving long pages in the browser or messaging. However, on the basic version of MIUI for Redmi 4, this feature may require additional activation in settings or only work in certain applications.

Use of the Three Dots Menu and gestures

The MIUI shell is famous for its unique control features, and one of the most convenient is the Three Dots menu, which appears in the upper right or left corner of the screen (depending on the settings) when you make a gesture, and to activate the creation of a screenshot, you need to swipe your finger across the screen with three fingers simultaneously down, which instantly creates a picture and opens the editing menu.

This feature is not activated by default on all devices, so you need to enable it manually. The path to settings is as follows: go to Settings → Additional settings → Screenshots. Here you need to tick the box against the "Three fingers" item, after which the gesture will be available in all applications where scrolling content does not conflict with the gesture of the system.

• 📱 Three fingers down gesture is the fastest way to make one hand.
• 🖱️ The Three Dots menu allows you to choose a mode: a regular screenshot, a long screenshot or an area.
• ⚙️ The function can be disabled if it interferes with the work with graphic editors.

This is especially true for those who have a side power button that is uncomfortable or has a tight run.Gestural control adds a modern level of interface interaction, making the Xiaomi Redmi 4 more responsive. It also reduces the mechanical load on the physical elements of the body.

It's worth noting that in some versions of MIUI, the Three Dots menu may be referred to as just a pop-up screenshot menu. Its look may be different, but the functionality remains the same. You can choose the area of the screen you want to capture, which is a unique feature that is missing from pure Android.

Voice control and Mi AI assistant

Voice-based technologies are becoming more integrated into everyday smartphone use. On Redmi 4, with Google Assistant installed or Mi AI built in (depending on the regional version of the firmware), you can create voice screenshots, just saying “OK, Google, take a screenshot” or “Take a screenshot of the screen.”

To make this function work, you need to have the appropriate permissions in the system settings, voice input needs to have access to the screen and the ability to emulate the pressing, and this is ideal for situations where your hands are busy or dirty, and you can't touch the screen, for example, during cooking or repair.

Settings → Advanced settings → Voice control → Voice model

In this section, you can configure voice activation and check the list of commands available. If the standard phrase doesn't work, you can try reconfiguring the trigger phrase in the Google app. It's worth remembering that the voice assistant requires an active Internet connection to work, since the request is often processed on servers.

⚠️ Warning: Voice commands may not work in Do Not Disturb mode or if the microphone is busy with another application, such as a voice recorder or navigator.

Voice control is not just a fashion homage, it's a real help to make smartphones more affordable. It's a great way to interact for people with disabilities or just for lazy users. But in noisy places, recognizing a command can be difficult, so it's worth having a backup plan.

Set up and manage long screenshots

The long screenshot (or scrolling) feature on Xiaomi Redmi 4 is very well implemented. After you create a normal screenshot (in any of the ways described), the preview or notification appears with a button “More” or an icon with arrows down, clicking on it, you start the scrolling mode.

The smartphone will automatically scroll down the screen, stitching images into one long image, and you can stop the process at any time by touching the screen, an indispensable tool for saving articles, long WhatsApp or Telegram correspondence, and contact lists.

It's important to understand that long screenshots take up significantly more memory space and have high resolution. The system automatically optimizes them, but the quality can suffer a little when compressed strongly. The maximum length of such an image is limited by the capabilities of the processor and the amount of RAM of the device.

Once saved, the long screenshot appears in the gallery as a normal image, but when viewed it can be scrolled. When sent via messengers (such as WhatsApp), the image can be compressed by the sender, which will worsen the readability of small text.

Where are screenshots stored and how to edit them

All images created are automatically saved in the standard Gallery app, and in MIUI, a separate album called Screenshots is allocated for them, which is very convenient because it allows you to separate screenshots from personal photos taken by the camera. The path to files in the file system usually looks like /storage/emulated/0/Pictures/Screenshots.

Once you've created a screenshot, the system offers basic editing, so you can cut the edges, add text, pictures, or blur sensitive information, and the built-in MIUI editor is powerful enough to cover 90% of the user's needs without having to install third-party apps.

If you connect your phone to your computer through USB-You can find the cable, the screenshot folder in the Internal Drive section, which allows you to quickly transfer the image archive to the hard drive to free up space on your smartphone, and cleaning this folder regularly helps keep the device running.