How to take a screenshot on an iPad

April 11, 2024

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Taking a screenshot on iPad has been a core feature since the first generation of Apple’s popular tablet, and for good reason.

Whether you want to share a Twitter thread, save a receipt, or capture a moment of a video (for the memes), screenshots are an invaluable part of how we communicate today. Plus, it’s easy to do, and there’s more than one way to go about it.

If your iPad has a home button

For the majority of iPads, the most common method for taking a screenshot is to press the home button and the top button at the same time.

Step 1:
Press the button on the top right corner of the iPad and the home button simultaneously.

If done successfully, you’ll see a white flash over the entire screen, and your iPad will save your screenshot to the photo library.

Arrows indicating the top right and home buttons on an Ipad, to press for screenshotting

Credit: Apple

If you’re having trouble, you may get better results if you press the home button slightly before the top button, then quickly release both.

If your iPad doesn’t have a home button

On iPads without home buttons, the process is similar. The only difference is that instead of the home button, you’ll press one of the volume buttons instead.

Step 1:
Press the button on the top right corner of the iPad and the volume button simultaneously.

Arrows indicating the top right and volume buttons to press on iPad for screenshotting.

Credit: Apple

If you don’t want to bother with button combinations

If pressing multiple buttons at once seems a little awkward, simply use one of the handiest Accessibility features on any mobile Apple device: AssistiveTouch. First you’ll have to set up AssistiveTouch.

Step 2:
Navigate to General.

Step 3:
Click Accessibility.

Step 5:
Click AssistiveTouch.

Step 6:
Tap the button at the top of the screen to turn it on.

After doing so, you’ll see a small virtual button appear onscreen that persists across all open apps. You can also use Siri and say “turn on AssistiveTouch” to get the same result.

Here’s how to take a screenshot using AssistiveTouch.

Step 1:
Tap the AssistiveTouch button at the top of the screen.

Step 2:
Navigate to Device.

Step 4:
Tap Screenshot.

You’ll see the same flash of the screen as if you’d done it the old-fashioned way, and your fresh screenshot will be waiting for you in your photo library.