The Kindle can do many things, but not all of them are explained in the user manual. (For example, the first Kindle had a hidden menu where you could see a list of the Lab126 team members who had worked on it.) Among the many neat undocumented tricks is one that I use on a regular basis: taking a screenshot.
The Kindle has had the option to let users take a screenshot since the day the first unit shipped in November 2007. The trick to enable this feature varies from one model to the next, so I took a few minutes to list them all.
- Original Kindle, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Kindle Keyboard – Press and hold Alt-Shift-G on the keyboard.
- Kindle 4 (the model with neither a touchscreen or a keyboard) – Press and hold the home button and the keyboard button.
- Kindle Touch – Press and hold the home button, and then tap the screen.
- Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle (2014) – These models don’t have any buttons on the front, so Amazon had to get a little inventive when creating the trigger for the screenshot. To take a screenshot on the Kindle Paperwhite or the new Kindle, simultaneously press two opposite corners of the screen (upper left and lower right, for example).
- Kindle Voyage – I don’t yet have any info on how to take a screenshot on the Voyage, but I bet the trick from the Paperwhite will work. (If that doesn’t work, leave a comment and I’ll help you find the answer.)
The screenshots are saved in different locations on the various models, and you’ll need to connect your Kindle to a computer and transfer them over USB. Generally you’ll find the screenshots in either the main folder or the documents folder. If you don’t see them in either location, you probably didn’t quite get the buttons presses in the right order.
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P.S. If you’re looking for instructions on how to take a screen shot on a Kindle Fire (or, as Amazon now calls them, a Fire tablet), here is what I generally try with Android devices.
Press and hold one of the volume buttons and the power button. If that doesn’t work, try the other volume button and the power button. (This works on most Android devices, including a couple of the Fire tablets I have owned.)
And if that doesn’t work, let me know. There are other possile combinations to try.
Thanks for the info! I never knew a Kindle could take a screenshot!
Thank you for the information. Like Robert, I didn’t know this.
Thanks! I, too, did not know this was possible and am really happy to know now!
TBCH, I knew the feature existed but I couldn’t recall how to trigger it. So when i needed to take a screenshot yesterday I went ahead and wrote out the instructions so I could find them in the future.
[…] Kindle’s screen? And, no, it’s not in the manual. Nate from The Digital Reader blog has a great how-to post for taking screen shots that gives instructions for each model of e-ink Kindle. He also gives some tips for Fire owners as […]
[…] post How to Take a Screen Shot on Any Kindle (Paperwhite, Touch, Basic, Keyboard) is copied from The Digital Reader where it appeared first on 3 October […]
On the Paperwhite I’ve found that while reading newspapers you can advance to the next article by tapping on the bottom of the screen (I usually use the bottom right corner for this). But I haven’t found a way to go to the previous article. Also, it seems that some taps advance pages faster than others. Are there any other navigation tips you or anyone else has discovered?
I saw this 4 months later, but …
When reading a newspaper on an e-Ink Kindle, you swipe from top to bottom to land on the beginning of the next article, and you can swipe from bottom to top to go to the beginning of the previous article.
I have the kindle fire with no camera how can I screen shot then
The usual trick for Android is to press the power button and one of the volume buttons at the same time.
On my KFHD, the power+down combination worked to take a screenshot.
Hi, simultaneously pressing two opposite corners of the screen has worked fine until Amazon updated Kindle firmware recently. I now have issues when I try to take screenshot with pop up windows (for example Goto and Highlight window or pull down menus). It was just fine to take those extra windows on original pages with several tries. However, those windows never show up on screenshots after the update. Do you know any ways to do it right? I have tried tens of times but no success. Does anyone know how to? Any success stories? Please share your experience. Kent
On the Kindle Voyage, the trick from the Kindle Paperwhite does work!
>To take a screenshot on the Kindle Paperwhite or the new Kindle, simultaneously press >two opposite corners of the screen (upper left and lower right, for example).
Thanks Mike!
Yes, screen shot trick does work for certain screens but not for certain images that I really need. For example, I have had hard time taking images for Go to for Contents or Go to for Notes tab. Also it is almost impossible for me to take Bookmark preview screens. I had to edit old images that I had before firm ware upgrade.
Could you take Go to screen? If so please let me know how.
Thanks a lot!
[…] The Digital Reader has instructions for all the different Kindle generations. For the latest models, without front buttons, press two opposite corners of the screen simultaneously (like the upper left and lower right at the same time). […]
What firmware version are you on? My Voyage is on 5.6.1.0.1, and a screen capture of the goto screen still works!
I have a kindle 2. It doesn’t have a volume button or an alt key on the keyboard. The pressing two corners on the screen doesn’t work ….how do I screenshot?
I’m staring at a Kindle 2 right now (it’s sitting in front of me on my desk).
Mine has shift and alt keys to the left of the spacebar.Do you have different keys?
Edit: I just tested my K2, and this trick worked.
NOTE: How to take a screenshot on kindle 4 basic:
Press & hold keyboard and MENU button, not keyboard and home button.
I clicked the top left corner then bottom right that didn’t work then I tried the opposite and that didn’t work
Which model? This has worked for me on all of the Kindles.
Are you pressing the corners at the same time?
Color me crazy but how do I get the keyboard to pop up on the screen?
I think it only appears when you have a text prompt?
Apparently I took some screen shots, somehow, on Kindle Paperwhite (3rd Generation) from 2015 …now how do I get rid of them ?
Plug your Kindle into your PC using the USB cable, then use your PC’s file manager to browse the storage on your Kindle. The screenshot files will stand out; there will be two files for each screenshot with matching names.
have Amazon Kindle 8; was not able to create screenshot using shift-alt-g on my Brookstone bluetooth keyboard. was able to by pressing ‘Prt Sc’
Really? I would not have expected that to work?