iPadiPadOSiPadOS 27Apple Pencilhow-to

How to Screenshot on iPad: Buttons, Pencil and Keyboard

Name: Pizazoo
Author: Pizazoo

How to screenshot on iPad: top and volume buttons, top and Home, an Apple Pencil corner swipe, Command-Shift-3 on a keyboard or AssistiveTouch (iPadOS 27).

October 6, 20267 min read

Muhammed BasilFounder & maker of Pizazoo

To take a screenshot on iPad, quickly press and release the top button and either volume button at the same time. If your iPad has a Home button, press and release the top button and the Home button instead. You can also swipe up from a bottom corner of the screen with Apple Pencil, or press Command-Shift-3 on a connected keyboard. These steps come from Apple's iPadOS 27 guide and work the same way in iPadOS 26.

This guide covers taking the screenshot. For finding it afterward, see where do screenshots go on iPad.

What is the easiest way to take a screenshot on iPad?

Method	How	Works on
Top button + volume	Press and release both together	Every iPad without a Home button
Top button + Home	Press and release both together	iPad (9th generation) and older Home button iPads
Apple Pencil	Swipe up from a bottom corner	iPads with a compatible Apple Pencil
Keyboard	Command-Shift-3, or Command-Shift-4 to open Markup	Any iPad with an external keyboard
AssistiveTouch	On-screen menu button, then Screenshot	Every iPad
Siri	Ask Siri	Every iPad with Siri on

How do I screenshot on an iPad without a Home button?

Quickly press and release the top button and a volume button at the same time (Apple, iPadOS 27). Apple's illustration shows both layouts: on some iPads the volume buttons are on the side edge, on others they sit on the top edge next to the top button. Either volume button works.

On iPadOS 27, that means (Apple):

iPad Pro: 11-inch (2nd generation and later, including M4 and M5), 12.9-inch (4th generation and later) and 13-inch (M4 and M5).
iPad Air: 4th and 5th generation, plus the 11-inch and 13-inch M2, M3 and M4 models.
iPad mini: 6th generation and iPad mini (A17 Pro).
iPad: 10th generation and iPad (A16).

Not all of these have Face ID. On iPad Air, iPad (10th generation) and iPad (A16), the Touch ID sensor is built into the top button (Apple), and that is the button to press with a volume button.

How do I screenshot on an iPad with a Home button?

Quickly press and release the top button and the Home button at the same time (Apple, iPadOS 27). On Apple's iPadOS 27 list, iPad (9th generation) is the only model left with a Home button. Older Home button iPads on earlier versions of iPadOS use the same pair of buttons (Apple).

How do I take a screenshot with Apple Pencil?

Swipe up diagonally with Apple Pencil from the lower-left or lower-right corner of the screen (Apple, iPadOS 27). The screenshot opens ready to draw on: mark it up with the Pencil, switch tools from the palette at the bottom, tap Share to send it, or tap Done and choose an option (Apple). Check which Apple Pencil works with your iPad if nothing happens.

Which setting controls the corner swipe?

Each bottom corner can do a different job. Apple's Apple Pencil page pairs the bottom-left corner with a screenshot and the bottom-right corner with a Quick Note (Apple). If your swipe opens a Quick Note instead of taking a screenshot, change that corner (Apple, iPadOS 27):

Go to Settings > Apps > Notes, then tap Corner Gestures.
Tap Left Corner Swipe or Right Corner Swipe, then choose an action.
Turn on Allow Finger to Swipe from Corner to use the gesture without a Pencil.

The same Apple page also mentions a Swipe Finger from Corner switch in Settings > Multitasking & Gestures. One limit is not in Apple's documentation: an Apple Community user tip reports that in iPadOS 26 the finger swipe does not work with Windowed Apps or Stage Manager, while Apple Pencil swipes still do.

What is the keyboard shortcut for a screenshot on iPad?

With a Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard or another external keyboard, Apple lists two shortcuts (Apple):

Command-Shift-3: take a screenshot.
Command-Shift-4: take a screenshot and open Markup right away, so you can view or edit it.

On a Mac, Shift-Command-4 lets you drag to select part of the screen. Apple describes the iPad version as a screenshot that goes straight into Markup, so crop it there.

Apple's list has no Globe-key screenshot shortcut. Globe combinations handle system commands such as Globe-H for the Home Screen and Globe-C for Control Center. To see every shortcut your keyboard supports, press and hold Command in an app, or hold the Globe key on a Magic Keyboard or Smart Keyboard for systemwide shortcuts (Apple). If Command sits somewhere awkward on a third-party keyboard, remap it in Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard > Modifier Keys.

How do I take a screenshot on iPad without buttons?

Use AssistiveTouch, which puts a menu button on screen. Apple lists taking a screenshot among its actions (Apple):

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch and turn it on.
Tap Customize Top Level Menu to put Screenshot on the first screen of the menu, or assign it to Single-Tap, Double-Tap or Long Press so one touch of the button takes the screenshot.

Apple also lists Siri as an alternative to the buttons (Apple). Back Tap, the iPhone trick of tapping the back of the phone, is not part of Apple's iPad guide.

What happens after you take a screenshot on iPadOS 26 and 27?

The screenshot appears full screen by default (Apple). Drag the handles to crop, tap Markup to annotate, tap Share to send it, and tap Done to save it. Tap Close to cancel or delete it (Apple, iPadOS 26).

If you would rather see a small thumbnail in the lower-left corner, go to Settings > General > Screen Capture and turn off Full-Screen Previews. Tap the thumbnail when you want to edit. The iPhone version of this setting, and what each mode does, is in how to turn off the full-screen screenshot preview.

How do I take a full-page screenshot on iPad?

For content longer than the screen, such as a webpage in Safari, tap Full Page in the screenshot editor, then drag your finger or Apple Pencil on the preview on the right to see more (Apple, iPadOS 27). Tap the Crop button to keep only part of it. Apple's iPadOS 26 guide lists Save to Photos for an image and Save PDF to Files for a PDF (Apple, iPadOS 26). More options are in how to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone and Mac.

Does an iPad screenshot capture every window?

Apple describes a screenshot as capturing what is on your iPad screen, and its iPadOS 26 and 27 guides document no way to capture a single window. If you work with Windowed Apps or Stage Manager (turned on in Settings > Multitasking & Gestures, per Apple), crop the screenshot to the window you want before you save it.

Where do iPad screenshots go?

To the Photos app, under Collections, Media Types, Screenshots; full-page PDFs go to the Files app. Details, and what to do when one is missing, are in where do screenshots go on iPad.

How do I keep iPad screenshots organized?

If you take a lot of them, an organizer helps. Disclosure: we make Pizazoo. Pizazoo for iPad is the same free universal app as the iPhone version (iPadOS 17 or later), with an iPad layout:

A sidebar layout for the bigger screen.
Drag screenshots into other apps, and drop images in.
Apple Pencil markup, where double-tapping the Pencil switches between your two most recent tools.
On-device categories and text search for the screenshots in your photo library.