If you own a Google Pixel phone and want to printscreen, I mean to take a screenshot then it is as easy as you do it on any other Android phone on this earth 🙂 Only thing is that depending upon which OS version you are running you can get different options to choose to take a screenshot. Like on Android 7.1 you can use hardware button combination and on Android 9.0 or up you can use single power button. So lets learn How to take a screenshot on a Google Pixel or Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL smartphone?
With latest introduction of Pixel 3, there is slight change in the way you take a screenshot, however still many of you will be having older version of Pixel and hence I will be showing both the options that is old and new phones to take a screenshot or printscreen.
Lets see how.
How to take a screenshot on Pixel phone?
The first method we will see is advanced method, later I will also speak on what if you have an older version of phone and Android version too. Of-course the latest version will also be compatible with the old method (which I will show you later in this post)
Method 1 : Take a screenshot using Power button
Applicable to : Google Pixel or Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL
OS should be Android 9.0 and up to use this feature — See how to check Android version of Pixel
1) You can open any video, chat app like snapchat, whatsapp, instgram etc to see the screen that you want to screen capture or snap of.
2) Now simply press the Power button for a few seconds, you will see option to take screenshot, simply tap Screenshot.
3) Your device will generate a screen capture of the visible screen and save it automatically.
4) Look at the top of the screen, to see Screenshot capture icon like this one
4) Alternatively you can return to a Home screen to see the screenshot capture icon.
5) Swipe down from the top of a screen with the Screenshot capture icon
6) Just tap the “Screenshot saved” notification to see all your screenshots.
6) Alternatively you can open your device’s Photos app >> Tap Menu >> Tap Device folders and then Screenshots.
Method 2 : Take a screenshot using Power button
Applicable to : Google Pixel or Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL
OS should be Android 7.1 and up to use this feature — See how to check Android version of Pixel
1) You can open any video, chat app like snapchat, whatsapp, instgram etc to see the screen that you want to screen capture or snap of.
2) Now simply press the Power button and Volume Down buttons simultaneously for a few seconds. (both buttons are located on he right hand side of your Pixel phone)
3) After release of both buttons, your device will generate a screen capture of the visible screen and with a visible thumbnail of captured screen it will save it to the device automatically.
4) Look at the top of the screen, to see Screenshot capture icon like this one
4) Alternatively you can return to a Home screen to see the screenshot capture icon.
5) Swipe down from the top of a screen with the Screenshot capture icon
6) Just tap the “Screenshot saved” notification to see all your screenshots.
6) Alternatively you can open your device’s Photos app >> Tap Menu >> Tap Device folders and then Screenshots.
Method 3 : How to take a screenshot with Google Assistant?
I tried using this method, which is pretty standard method to take a screenshot on Android system, however in this case Google Assistant doesn’t allow to take screenshots using voice commands, not sure what is wrong with this, I need to explore more and come back again,
If you could do it on your Google Pixel any model phone then please let me know by putting comments below.
How to share your screenshot on Pixel?
To share a screenshot, view it and tap on Share
How to edit your screenshot on Pixel?
View it in your device’s Photos app >> Tap More >> Edit in Markup.
Couldn’t capture screenshot on Pixel how to resolve
Well, you have learnt to take a screenshot on Google Pixel phone, but sometimes encounter error like “Couldn’t capture screenshot” or error message telling you that screen capture not possible.
Sometimes the screenshot is generated but somehow it is not found in the screenshots folder!
In such case you can check the following things to resolve the issue.
Check for Android updates:
The first and foremost thing you can do is to goto Google official page to get latest Android updates that may patch this issue. Generally updates are meant to patch bugs and probably it may resolve the screenshot issue.
Get to know if your Google Pixel phone needs an Android patch update here
Check your phone storage space:
Unknowingly you pump your phone with apps, movies, music and pictures getting its memory storage full, in such case the Phone will not be able to save the screenshot to local device. So try freeing up some memory to resolve the issue.
To do so first check how much device FREE memory is available by going to —
Settings >> Storage
If you see device is FULL, then delete some unwanted stuff to free up some extra space, and try taking the screenshot again.
Clear Cache:
In this case I recommend reading the Google own official guide on How to free space on Pixel device — Read Free up space Guide here —
Try renaming the screenshot folder:
Sometimes this workaround works!
Yes, simply rename the Screenshots folder to Old Screenshots or My Screenshots or something else
Now try taking a fresh screenshot, most of the times it addresses the issue.
Don’t ask me the technical reason behind this gimmick! It maybe the OS gets some issue with current destination folder and renaming it forces system to look for the correct one resetting the process / log, who knows?
Close all apps:
Yes, I know the phone is so powerful that it is able to handle multiple Apps at the same time, however sometimes, one or more Apps may create some interference in screenshot generation process.
In that case you can try screenshot process by closure of App one by one or all other apps together and see if that resolves the issue.
How to check & update your Android version of Google Pixel phone?
Now finally if you want to check what is your Android OS version loaded then you can do it in following simple steps :
Step-by-Step process to check Android version
1) Open Settings menu, you will see a wheel icon as shown .
2) Scroll the menu till you reach the bottom >> go to System >> Advanced >> System update
Alternatively if you can’t see ‘Advanced’ on your device >> then tap About phone. >> Android version >> Security patch level
Note: Make sure that you are connected to WiFi network or have mobile data ON to connect to internet.
3) System will check and alert you to download the latest Android updates >> Once you see an update notification >> tap the update action.