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How to Cite a Screenshot in APA, MLA and Chicago

How to cite a screenshot in APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago, with reference, caption and in-text examples, plus how to keep each source URL and date.

7 min read
Muhammed BasilFounder & maker of Pizazoo

To cite a screenshot, cite what the screenshot shows: the web page, post, video or app screen it came from. The screenshot is not a separate source, and you do not credit yourself for taking it (Chicago's editors say as much). You need two pieces: a label under the image (a figure note in APA, a caption in MLA and Chicago) and a normal entry for the source in your reference list, works cited or bibliography. When the page has no date or could change, add the date you captured it.

Style Under the image In your text In your list
APA 7 Figure number, title, and a Note. starting "From" (Author, Year) Webpage reference
MLA 9 "Fig. 1." caption with source details (Author) or ("Short Title") Works-cited entry, often with an access date
Chicago 18 "Figure 1." caption plus credit Footnote Bibliography entry

Every example below cites the same real page: Apple's support article "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone," published June 3, 2026, and captured on October 6, 2026.

How do you cite a screenshot in APA 7?

In APA, a screenshot placed in your paper is a figure. You credit the page it came from in a note under the figure and list that page in your references.

Reference list entry (the standard webpage format):

  • Apple. (2026, June 3). Take a screenshot on your iPhone. Apple Support. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102616

In-text citation: (Apple, 2026) or Apple (2026).

The figure itself:

  • Number, in bold, above the image: Figure 1
  • Title, in italic title case, below the number: Steps for Taking a Screenshot on iPhone
  • Note, below the image: Note. From Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone, by Apple, 2026, Apple Support (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102616). Copyright 2026 by Apple Inc.

Start the note with "Adapted from" instead of "From" if you changed the image, for example by adding arrows, highlights or blur.

Two APA details that matter for screenshots:

  • No date on the page? Use (n.d.). If the content is designed to change over time and is not archived, add a retrieval date at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 6, 2026, from https://...
  • Permission. For a class paper, the copyright note is usually what you need. If the work will be published, you may also need the copyright holder's permission, so check with your instructor or publisher. Stock images follow their license: some need no attribution at all.

How do you cite a screenshot in MLA 9?

MLA's guidance turns on whether you discuss the source. If you do, the caption works like an in-text citation and points to a full works-cited entry. If the screenshot is only illustrative, put the full publication details in the caption itself.

Works-cited entry:

  • "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone." Apple Support, 3 June 2026, support.apple.com/en-us/102616. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

The entry starts with the title because Apple is the author, the publisher and essentially the site name, and MLA drops the author and publisher in that case. MLA treats the access date as optional but says it is especially useful when a page has no date or may be changed or removed, which describes most things people screenshot.

Caption, when the source is in your works cited:

  • Fig. 1. Screenshot from "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone."

Caption, when the screenshot is only illustrative:

  • Fig. 1. "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone," Apple Support, 3 June 2026, support.apple.com/en-us/102616, accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

In-text citation: ("Take a Screenshot").

For a screenshot of a social media post, the same logic applies: cite the post (author, text, platform, date, URL) and label the image Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and so on.

How do you cite a screenshot in Chicago style?

These examples follow the 18th edition (2024), notes and bibliography system. Chicago notes that it is often enough to describe web content in your text ("As of October 6, 2026, Apple's support page said..."). When you need a formal citation:

  • Note: 1. "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone," Apple Support, Apple, June 3, 2026, https://support.apple.com/en-us/102616.
  • Shortened note: 2. Apple, "Take a Screenshot."
  • Bibliography: Apple. "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone." Apple Support. June 3, 2026. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102616.

If the page shows no publication or revision date, add an access date ("accessed October 6, 2026," in the note, "Accessed October 6, 2026." in the bibliography), or cite an archived copy instead ("archived October 6, 2026, at" followed by the Wayback Machine URL).

Caption and credit. Chicago's editors say the person who makes a screenshot "doesn't usually get credit," but anything you added should be made clear. A caption with a credit line might read:

  • Figure 1. Apple's steps for taking an iPhone screenshot. "Take a Screenshot on Your iPhone," Apple Support, Apple, June 3, 2026, https://support.apple.com/en-us/102616; arrows added by the author.

What if the page has changed or been deleted?

Cite the version you captured. MLA advises using the information in your screenshot to cite the content as it existed when you took it, and mentioning in your text or a note that it has since been deleted. APA and Chicago both lean on dates here: a retrieval date (APA) or an access date (Chicago) tells the reader when you saw it.

The stronger move happens at capture time. Paste the URL into the Internet Archive's Save Page Now and you get a permanent link to the page as it was that day, and Chicago says you may cite that archived link. Some sites block it, so keep your screenshot either way.

How do I keep the URL and date with every screenshot?

A citation is only as good as the details you kept. A screenshot's file name records when you took it, not where it came from, so save the source the moment you capture.

  • iPhone (iOS 26 and iOS 27): in Photos, open the screenshot, then swipe up or tap the Info button. The caption field is a good place for the URL, and Photos Search can find what you type there. The same panel shows the date and time it was taken.
  • Mac: screenshots are files, so put the site and date in the name (Control-click, then Rename), or tag every screenshot for one paper with the same Finder tag.
  • Anything you might need to prove: archive it with Save Page Now and keep that link too.

Disclosure: We make Pizazoo, a screenshot organizer for Mac, iPhone and iPad, and it helps with exactly this step. Every screenshot has a note on both Mac and iPhone, so you can paste the URL, author and capture date right after you take it: on Mac in the review popup that appears after a capture or later in the inspector, and on iPhone in the screenshot's details or in the note field of Save to Pizazoo in the share sheet. Pizazoo does not record the URL for you, so the note is where it lives.

When you sit down to write, Pizazoo's on-device text search finds the screenshot by the quote you remember, and the note gives you the reference details. With Pro, you can tag every screenshot for one paper and use iCloud Sync to see the same library on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. There is more on this workflow in Pizazoo for students and Pizazoo for researchers.

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