Taking a screenshot on your iPhone is easy -- a quick combo of the volume + and side button. If your hands are full, you can even ask Siri to snap a screenshot for you. But sometimes you need a longer screenshot that shows much more than what's on your screen, and this is where scrolling screenshots come in handy.
In addition to the standard screenshot using the aforementioned button combo, your iPhone takes Full Page screenshots, which will allow you to capture more of the webpage, PDF file, or whatever lengthy thing you're trying to snap. There are some guardrails you'll need to know about in order to get the screenshot to save the way you may want it to, though. We'll explain.
For even more tech, here's what to expect for WWDC 2024 and the most annoying iOS 17 settings you should change right now.
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What is a scrolling screenshot?
A full-page screenshot, or scrolling screenshot, captures an entire page -- webpage, document or email -- without you having to take multiple screenshots and then stitch them together. For example, if you wanted to screenshot a 116-page document in Safari, you would only have to take a single screenshot to capture the entire thing.
How to take a scrolling screenshot on your iPhone
To take a scrolling screenshot, do the following:
1.First, take a regular screenshot on your iPhone. If you have Face ID, quickly press the side button + volume up button. With Touch ID, it's side/top button + home button.
2. Tap the screenshot preview that appears in the bottom-left corner. It appears for about five seconds, so you must be somewhat swift.
3. Next, go to the Full Page option. Underneath Full Page, you'll see a preview of the entire scrolling screenshot on the right side, along with a larger preview in the middle. You also have tools to crop the scrolling screenshot, in case it's too long.
4. Once you're finished editing the scrolling screenshot, hit Done. You'll see two options: one to save the scrolling screenshot and another to delete it.
5. Finally, tap Save PDF to Filesor Save to Photos (if available) to save the scrolling screenshot.
If you're saving the screenshot to Files, you must choose a folder to save it in. By default, the Files app will select the last folder you saved something to or the Downloads folder.
You can (sometimes) save long screenshots to photos
Before iOS 17, you could only save long screenshots as PDF files. And that's sort of still true -- depending on the length of your screenshot.
The most obvious way to see if your scrolling screenshot can be saved to your photo reel is to just check by doing step 4 above. The option to save the screenshot to your photos will either be there or it won't. The other way to know is by taking a look at the screen overview to the right after you tap the Full Page screenshot option.
If the length of the screenshot exceeds the length of your phone's screen, like the example of the CNET home page above, you'll only be able to save as a PDF. If it doesn't, like the Google search example above, you should be able to save it in your photos. Apple's support page doesn't define the exact parameters, but this is a good rule of thumb to go by.
How to view long screenshots on your iPhone
As mentioned above, extra-long screenshots are automatically converted to PDFs, so they're saved to the native Files app. To view your scrolling screenshot, open the Files app, go to the folder in which your screenshot was saved and tap the screenshot.
Here you can rename the file, draw on it, leave comments and more. You can also share the scrolling screenshot, but the other person must have Files or another PDF-reader to view it.
If you saved your screenshot to your Photos app, then that's where you can expect to find it.
For more Apple, don't miss how to use ChatGPT with Siri on your iPhone and how to save money on your iPhone app subscriptions.
