How to Capture an iPad Screenshot

Press Volume Up and Home or the Wake/Sleep buttons at the same time

What to Know

  • With Home button: Press Home button and top/side button simultaneously.
  • Without Home button: Press Power button and volume up button simultaneously.
  • Share: Open Photos or Camera app > tap screenshot thumbnail > tap Share icon > choose how to share.

This article explains how to take a screenshot on an iPad, as well as how to share and print the screenshot. Information applies to iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad models with iPadOS 13 or higher installed.

How to Take a Screenshot on an iPad

Screenshots are handy for saving a cool drawing you made in a drawing app, showing your friends your high score in Candy Crush Saga, or creating a new meme. Screenshots are also useful for sharing information with people who are in a different location. The iPad doesn't have a Print Screen button, but capturing a screenshot on the iPad requires only a few steps.

To take a picture of content on the iPad screen:

  1. Go to the content you want to capture. (Open an app, game, file, browser, or any content that you want to appear in a screenshot.)

  2. If your iPad has a Home button, which is the round button below the screen, simultaneously press and hold the Home button and the top button (or side button, depending on orientation). When you hear the click of a camera shutter, release both buttons.

  3. On iPads that don't have a Home button, press and hold the Power button and the volume up button simultaneously until you hear the camera shutter click.

A thumbnail image of the screen capture appears briefly at the bottom of the iPad screen.

How to Share an iPad Screenshot

There are plenty of ways to share a screenshot after you capture it.

  1. Locate the screenshot in the Photos or Camera app and tap its thumbnail image to open it. 

    The Screenshots album in the iPad Photos app
  2. Tap the Share icon, which is the square with an arrow, at the top of the screen.

    A screenshot on iPad with the Share button highlighted
  3. Choose how to share the screenshot. Send the screenshot as a text message, in an email message, or to a shared album. You can also share the photo on social media, AirDrop it to a nearby device, or add it to a Note. Scroll to the right or downward for additional sharing options.

    To print, assign to a contact, or use as wallpaper, among other options, tap the desired action in the menu.

    The Share screen on iPad

Where Does the iPad Screenshot Go?

The image of the captured screen is sent to the Photos app. You can find it in several locations in the Photos app:

  • Tap Photos at the bottom of the Photos app screen. The screenshot appears as the most recent photo.
  • Tap Albums at the bottom of the Photos screen and select the All Photos album.
  • Tap Albums at the bottom of the screen and scroll down to the Media Types section and tap Screenshots. The Screenshots album is created when you take your first screenshot, and all subsequent screenshots also appear here.
  • Tap the Camera app to see a thumbnail of the most recent image you've taken.

Good Uses for Screenshots

Here are a few good reasons to take a picture of your iPad screen:

  • Capture a photo from the web: Some photos can be downloaded from the web by tapping and holding the photo and then choosing a download option. If you can't download an image, take a screenshot of it. For the best quality, use a pinch-to-zoom gesture to zoom in on the image until it is large on the screen before snapping the screenshot.
  • Capture a photo from an app: The screenshot function is a feature of the iPad, not a feature within an app, so it works on all apps. If you are on Instagram, Facebook, or any other app, you can take a screenshot of what you see.
  • Save a tweet or Facebook update: When you find a status update and suspect the author may delete it in the future, take a screenshot. The screenshot function is a great way to save a record of status updates from social media platforms.
  • Create a background image for the Lock Screen: Personalize your iPad lock screen by capturing a screenshot that is meaningful to you and assigning it as wallpaper.
  • Capture an image for support help: When you have problems with your iPad, a screen capture may give the technical support tech the information needed to correct the problem.

When you capture a screenshot, you can enhance it with Markup by adding drawings, text, and making changes to the screenshot.

FAQ
  • How do I use the Apple Pencil to capture an iPad screenshot?

    Position the Apple Pencil in one of the bottom corners of a compatible iPad screen and swipe up. Use the markup tools at the bottom of the screenshot if needed, and then select Save to Files or Save to Photos. Tap Done when you're finished.

  • How do I fix it when the iPad screenshot isn't working?

    If you can't take a screenshot on your iPad, which might occur after a system upgrade, a restart or force restart usually fixes the problem. Other less-likely causes include trying to take screenshots on an iPad that doesn't have room for them (solution: make room by deleting images and videos) or using an iPad that needs to be updated to the current iPadOS version.

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