How to Take a Screenshot on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide to All Methods

Screenshots on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are a basic feature that is required daily to save correspondence, checks or game moments. Device owners often look for quick ways to capture information on the display without installing third-party software. Modern shells MIUI and HyperOS offer many tools for this.

Unlike many other manufacturers, the Chinese giant has implemented several layers of control, allowing the user to choose the most convenient method: you can use physical buttons, screen swipes, voice commands or even special widgets in the curtain.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to create screenshots, including hidden features and settings that not all users know about. We will also touch on the topic of automatic scrolling to create long screenshots and tell you where to look for saved files. To activate some advanced features, you may need to include special features in the system settings section, which will allow you to make the most of the capabilities of your gadget.

Classical method using physical buttons

The most common and reliable method, which works on 99% of Android devices, including the entire Xiaomi lineup, requires no pre-setting and is available immediately after the phone is turned on.

To take a picture, you need to find the on button (usually on the right) and the volume down button (also on the right but below). Press them simultaneously and hold them briefly. If you do everything right, the device will emit a characteristic camera shutter sound, and at the top of the screen will appear a smaller copy of the shot.

It is important not to pinch the buttons too long, as in this case, you can activate the power out menu or start the voice assistant Google Assistant. The movement should be clear and fast. If the screenshot does not work the first time, try changing the rhythm of pressing or the pressure on the keys.

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If the buttons are tight or the smartphone is in a thick case, press the keys with your finger pads rather than your nails to ensure uniform pressure on both buttons at the same time.

This method is universal for the Redmi Note, Xiaomi Mi and Redmi A budget series. Even if the touch screen is temporarily unresponsive, the button combination often continues to work, which can be critical in emergency situations.

Setting and using gestures with three fingers

MIUI is famous for its customization, and one of the most convenient features is to create a screenshot of the swipe. By default, this option can be disabled, so it needs to be activated in the settings menu, which is ideal for those who prefer one-handed control.

To enable the function, go to Settings, then select Additional and find Screenshots. Here you need to activate the "Three Finger Screenshot" switch. After that, just swipe three fingers from top to bottom across the screen any time you want to take a picture.

• 🖐️ Gesture with three fingers down – takes a regular screenshot of the current screen.
• 📜 Gesture with three fingers down and hold – triggers the long screenshot (scrolling) mode).
• ⚙️ Setting up the area – in some versions of the software you can adjust the sensitivity of the gesture.

Gestures are especially useful on large screens where reaching volume buttons can be difficult, but it is worth remembering that in some heavy-duty games or content-protected applications (such as banking apps or Netflix), this method, like any other, can be blocked by security systems.

Control through notification curtain and sidebar

If you don't like using buttons or gestures, the system offers software solutions. In the control center, which is called by a top-down swipe, there's often a "Screenshot" button, which looks like a scissor or a camera icon. Just touch it, and the screen will be captured.

In addition, HyperOS and newer versions of MIUI have a Sidebar, which is a floating menu that can be swiped from the edge of the screen, and you can add a screenshot shortcut to it, which is especially true if the buttons on the phone body are damaged or crash.

To add a function to the sidebar:

1. Open Settings and go to Additional.
2. Choose Floating Windows or Sidebar.
3. In the Tools section, find the Screenshot and add it to the active list.

⚠️ Note: The sidebar may not appear in some full-screen apps or games unless the settings allow it to be displayed over other windows.

Using software buttons also saves the mechanical parts of your smartphone. If you often take hundreds of screenshots a day, switching to software will prolong the life of physical volume buttons.

Voice control and Assistant commands

Today’s Xiaomi smartphones have powerful voice control capabilities. You can take a screenshot just by saying a command. This is especially convenient when hands are busy or the phone is on the table. Google Assistant or Xiao Ai’s built-in voice assistant (in Chinese versions) must be active to work with this feature.

To activate voice-activated image creation, say, "OK, Google, take a screenshot," or "Take a screenshot," if the assistant is already activated. The system will immediately execute a command, and you will hear a confirming sound, which requires an Internet connection for the most accurate speech recognition work.

You can also use Quick Commands, you can customize your trigger phrase, for example, when you say "Remember this," the phone will automatically save the screen image. → Voice control.

Voice control is a great option for people with disabilities or in situations where physical interaction with the screen is difficult, but in noisy places or quiet libraries, this method may not be appropriate.

Creating long screenshots and scrolling

Often, a single screen is not enough to save a correspondence in the messenger or an article in the browser. The Long Screenshot (or Scrolling) feature allows you to create a single image that combines several screens. After you create a regular screenshot (by any method), a button with arrows down will appear in the upper right corner of the thumbnail.

Press this button, and the screen will automatically scroll down to capture a new area, and the process will stop when you touch the screen or reach the end of the page, and in some cases, you can scroll right away with the "three fingers down and hold" gesture.

Long screenshots take up more memory space, as their vertical resolution can be very large.The file format remains JPG or PNG, but the file weight can reach several megabytes for very long pages.

Editing, marking up and saving files

Once you've created a screenshot, you have a preview in the corner, and if you click on it, it opens up a built-in editor, and you can cut the edges, add text, draw arrows, or blur sensitive information (like card numbers or addresses) that's built-in MIUI Gallery.

Files are saved in a special folder. The path to them usually looks like: Internal memory → DCIM → Screenshots. In the Xiaomi file manager, they are also available through the category Images → Screenshots. If you delete a file from the gallery, it will disappear from the file system.

To quickly transfer screenshots, you can use the “Send” feature in the editing menu, which allows you to immediately send a file to the messenger or email, bypassing the save step to the gallery.

⚠️ Note: When using the Memory Cleanup feature in the Security app, screenshots can be labeled as junk unless you first added the Screenshots folder to exceptions.

Regular screenshot sorting helps free up space. The gallery has a smart search that recognizes text in images, so you can find the right check or address by typing in a keyword in a photo search.

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The built-in screenshot editor in MIUI allows sensitive data to be blurred before being sent, a critical feature for digital hygiene.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)