How to Take a Screenshot on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to Screenshots

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphone owners often face the challenge of capturing the contents of the display. Whether it’s an important dialogue, a plane ticket or a setup manual, getting a quick screenshot is a basic skill. The MIUI shell and the new HyperOS have a variety of ways to accomplish this task, from classic buttons to advanced gestures.

Developers offer flexible customizations that allow you to adapt the process of creating images to the habits of the individual user. Some prefer physical clicking, others are more convenient to draw on the screen. Understanding all the options available greatly simplifies interaction with the device and saves time in critical situations.

In this article, we will take a look at all the existing screenshot techniques on Xiaomi devices, and we will cover not only standard procedures, but also specialized features, such as a long screenshot, which is not available on many other Android smartphones without third-party software, you will learn where files are stored and how to automate the process.

Classical method: button combination

The most common and reliable way, familiar to Android users since the early versions, is to simultaneously press the control buttons. On modern Xiaomi models without the physical Home key, a bunch of down loudspeakers and Power buttons is used, which works even in cases where the touchscreen temporarily does not respond to touch or the system experiences micro-latency.

To do this successfully, you need to press both buttons almost simultaneously, and if you hold them with a long delay, the phone may perceive this as a command to call the switch menu or change the volume. After the shutter clicks, the camera emits a characteristic sound (if on), and at the top of the screen appears a thumbnail of the created image.

⚠️ Warning: Do not hold the buttons too long. Prolonged clamping (more) 2-3 On many models, Xiaomi causes a forced device reboot or activation of Google’s voice assistant, rather than creating a screenshot.

Importantly, older models with a physical home button (under the screen) may have had different combinations, often using either a menu + volume down or a home + power mix, but the current fleet of devices is the side key bundle, a universal standard that works on all firmware versions, including Chinese globals.

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If the volume buttons are inconveniently located or stuck, try using the software methods described below to avoid damaging the mechanical elements of the case.

Gesture control: three fingers down

MIUI is famous for its functionality, and one of the most convenient features is to create a swipe gesture screenshot, which allows users to swipe three fingers from top to bottom across the screen to capture the current image instantly, a feature that is especially useful when the phone is lying on a table or holding one hand, and reaching for the side keys is problematic.

By default, this option can be disabled, so you need to activate it in the settings. The path to the function usually looks like: Settings → Additional settings → Screenshots. Here you can not only turn on the gesture, but also adjust its behavior, for example, add a vibration when creating a picture or a shutter sound.

• 📱 The gesture works on most applications, but can be blocked in banking services for security reasons.
• ⚙️ The sensitivity of the touchscreen affects recognition: if the gesture does not work, try to hold your fingers faster or tighter to press them against the display.
• 🔄 In some firmware versions, the direction of the gesture can be changed, although the standard movement from top to bottom remains.

Using gestures makes the process of creating screenshots more intuitive, but it is worth remembering that on screens with high refresh rates or using low-quality protective glasses, multitouch may not work correctly, in such cases it is better to return to the classic method with buttons.

Screenshot through the notification curtain and menu

If physical buttons are not available and gestures are not configured, the system interface comes to the rescue. In the control center (notification curtain) there is always a "Screenshots" label. Just unlock the phone, swipe your finger from the top of the screen down and tap the corresponding icon. The system automatically creates a snapshot of the current state of the desktop or open application.

This technique also allows you to take screenshots in situations where the volume buttons are physically damaged, and the menu can also have a Screen Record button, which often coexists with the static image creation function, which is convenient for creating instructions or fixing bugs in games.

There is another hidden way for some versions of MIUI: If you deploy the menu of running applications (the Menu button or the swipe from the bottom with a hold), additional action icons may appear above the application window, including sometimes a scissors icon or a camera that allows you to take a picture of the window without opening it.

Long screenshot: Capture the page

One of the most sought-after features in Xiaomi’s ecosystem is the ability to create a “long screenshot” that captures not only the visible part of the screen, but also content that goes beyond the display, which is indispensable when saving correspondence in messengers, long articles in the browser or lists of products in online stores.

The process starts as a simple screenshot in any convenient way. Immediately after you take a picture, a button with down arrows will appear in the upper right corner of the thumbnail that appears. When you click on it, you start scrolling mode. The phone will automatically scrolle down the page, stitching the image into one long tape.

It will stop automatically if it reaches the end of the page, or manually if the user touches the screen or presses the stop button, and it is important to understand that in some applications with infinite tape (for example, social networks), automatic scrolling may not stop on its own, so you need to control the process.

⚠️ Note: When creating long screenshots in applications with dynamic content (such as newsfeeds), the final image may contain tears or artifacts if the content was loaded during the scrolling process.

Quality and format of preservation

In deep settings of MIUI and HyperOS, you can find parameters that affect the quality and format of the stored files. By default, screenshots are saved in PNG format, which provides high quality lossless, but takes up more space. For ordinary users, this is the best choice, since the text and graphics remain clear.

Some users prefer to change the format to JPG to save memory, although modern compression algorithms make this difference less noticeable, and you can also turn off the shutter sound in the settings if you take screenshots in a movie theater or in a meeting where silence is a must.

The resolution setting is worth special attention. The screenshot is always created in the native resolution of your screen matrix. If you have Xiaomi with a 2400×1080 display, then the image will have the same proportions. You can't change this software because the system copies the frame buffer directly.

Where are the screenshots stored and how to find them

Once a screenshot is created, the file is automatically saved to the device’s internal memory. The standard path to the directory is like Inner Memory → DCIM → Screenshots. In some cases, depending on the Android version, the folder may simply be called Screenshots at the root of the internal storage.

The easiest way to access a gallery of images you create is to use the standard Gallery app, which has a separate Screenshots album, which includes all the screenshots that you've sorted by date, so you don't have to dig through the file system.

If you connect your phone to your computer through USB-You can find the folder through Windows Explorer or macOS. The folder structure remains unchanged, making it easier to transfer files to the PC for further processing or archiving. Files have automatic numbering or a time stamp in the title, which helps in sorting.

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Screenshots take up space in internal memory. Check the DCIM/Screenshots folder regularly and delete old or unnecessary images to keep the storage from overflowing.

Solution: Why screenshots are not saved

Sometimes users are faced with a situation where screenshots are not created, most often due to Android security restrictions, banking applications, incognito browsers and streaming services (Netflix, Kinopoisk) block the ability to create screenshots, in which case you will see a black screen instead of an image.

Another reason may be a lack of free memory: if the internal storage is crowded, the system will not be able to write a new file, and problems may arise when third-party launchers conflict or design themes that interfere with the system rendering processes of the interface.

• 🔒 Protection DRM: In paid content, copy protection works at the system level, it cannot be bypassed by standard means.
• 💾 Lack of space: Free up at least 100MB of storage so screenshots start to be saved again.
• 🐛 System bug: Rebooting a device often resolves temporary disruptions to the clipboard or graphical interface.

In rare cases, the problem lies in the corruption of system files after a failed update. If none of the methods work, it makes sense to check for firmware updates or reset settings (pre-backup data).