Sometimes you just want to show someone what you’re looking at RIGHT FREAK’N NOW! But how do you do that with an android phone?

I keep forgetting how to do one very simple task with my new android phone. Taking a screen capture. Why? To show coworker something. To put on a blog, something, anything. Sometimes you just want a screencap. But it’s one of those things you use so infrequently, well, I do, I just can’t remember the shortcuts. Hence this blog. I hope to really remember now! And if I forget, I have this reference now. LOL

Taking = PWR + VOL DOWN + 2s

On the screen you want to capture, simply (and remember this part) press the POWER button and the VOLUME DOWN buttons at the same time for 2s. It takes a moment, then you’ll see the page flash then shrink inside of a white border, then disappear towards the top left side of the phone. You SHOULD hear a “plucking” sound (I’ve done it a few times and the “pluck“ sound only happens about 50% of the time).

Viewing

Ok, now that you’ve taken the screen, now what? First, look at the top of the phone in the notifications area, you’ll see a white photo, might look like mountains in a picture frame (below).

You swipe down in notifications, then find the “Screenshot captured” notification and click it (right).

Then you’ll see your screenshot. At this point, you can

• view your screencap (center)
• hit the back arrow (top left) to go back to see all your screencaps
• the ellipses (top right) to see Help & feedback
• click the share button (bottom left) to send the pic\image to those programs
• click the info button (bottom right) to….well….view info on the screencap
• Interesting, I can’t seem to locate that folder\png when I’m connected via USB, I really wish I could find it that way

There’s two other ways to look at your screencaps. One with the Photos apps and finding the Screenshots section. The second way, if you want to find them on “the computer” is to connect up your photos to Google’s Photos application. This is a nifty way to get the pictures on your computer. You might have to add this “app” to your Google account for this to work properly.

So now that I’ve shown you how to take screenshots\screencaps, I hope I can remember how to take them too. LOL Now it’s time to grab a coffee and get coding.

PS If you try this, AND can get a screencap of the screencap, please let me know. I tried, I couldn’t get it to work.

 

Resources

Google: search page

Nexus Help: Take a screenshot on your device

The Verge: Google just made taking screenshots was easier in Android Marshmallow

Gadgets 360: Google Makes It Easier to Take Screenshots in Android 6.0 Marshmallow