Everyone’s familiar with (or maybe even overuse) the iPhone’s screenshot feature. With a simple press of some buttons or two taps on the back, you can instantly share a tidbit of information, a series of messages, or PDF pages with others.
However, sometimes, what you want to capture extends beyond the screen, or you want to screenshot the entire webpage or PDF document. While taking multiple screenshots would suffice, a scrolling screenshot would be much more convenient. Don’t know how to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone? Here’s how!
- What are scrolling screenshots?
- How to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone
- Use Assistive Touch to take long screenshots on iPhone
- Ask Siri to take a screenshot on iPhone
- Stitch screenshots together on iPhone with a third-party app
What are scrolling screenshots?
Scrolling screenshots are just like regular screenshots, except that it captures more than one page on your iPhone. Compared to regular screenshots that require you to snap, scroll a little, and snap again, a scrolling screenshot takes an uninterrupted series of stitched screenshots to cover the entire webpage.
This is especially useful when you want to screenshot something that goes beyond what’s visible on your display. It’s also perfect for preserving a conversation thread (on Twitter or Reddit) or taking a snapshot of an entire PDF document.
Note: This feature is best used on apps like Safari, Mail, and Notes. It may not work on other native and third-party apps.
How to take a scrolling screenshot on iPhone
- Open the Safari app on your iPhone and enter a website.
- Take a regular screenshot by pressing the Side Button and the Volume Up button simultaneously.
You may also use the Back Tap feature if you’ve enabled it. - Tap the Screenshot preview that will appear on the lower left side of your screen.
- At the top of the preview, tap Full Page.
- Tap Done → Save PDF to Files or Save All to Files if you’ve taken several screenshots.
Note that your iPhone will save the screenshot to the Files app by default. - If you want to send the file directly, tap the Share button on the upper right and choose how you want to send it. Note that the file will be exported in PDF format.
Use Assistive Touch to take long screenshots on iPhone
If you have problems with your buttons and can’t use the Back Tap feature yet (which only works on iPhone 8 and later, running on iOS 14 or later), you can also use iPhone’s Assistive Touch feature to take a screenshot.
Just activate the feature by heading to Settings → Accessibility → Touch → toggle on AssistiveTouch.
To take a screenshot using Assistive Touch:
- Go to the page or file you want to take a screenshot of.
- Tap the Assistive Touch button → Screenshot.
- Tap Full Page → Save PDF to Files.
Ask Siri to take a screenshot on iPhone
You could also tap the ever-faithful iPhone assistant’s help for doing the job. Just say, “Hey Siri, take a screenshot.” Then you just have to interact with the screenshot similarly as instructed above.
Siri has a lot of tricks on its sleeve. Read our ultimate guide to make the most of Siri and go hands-free while you let it do all your tasks.
Stitch screenshots together on iPhone with a third-party app
If you don’t have these features yet and still want to send scrolling screenshots, you can opt for third-party apps that can stitch multiple screenshots together for a single cohesive picture. Some apps let you capture them. Others also allow you to choose if you want to stitch them vertically or horizontally.
This option works great for many other apps not supported by this native iOS feature, like Messages and other third-party messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Examples of these apps are Tailor and Picsew.
Wrapping up…
Scrolling screenshots are great for sharing large pieces of information without having to break them up into several small images. Now you know how to use this native iOS feature and get the most out of it!
If your device isn’t compatible with the feature, you can still rely on third-party apps that do the trick. Happy scrolling!
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