Gaming on the Xbox Series X|S is a hoot and a half, but there is one thing about the console that’s made me want to tear my hair out: It doesn’t let you quickly take screenshots outside of gameplay. If you want to show off your home screen or take a few screenshots of your settings pages, the Xbox just doesn’t make it easy on you. Luckily, there is a workaround.
How to take Xbox Series X|S screenshots during gameplay
If you’re playing a game, you can press the Share button on the controller to take a quick screenshot. You can then press and hold the Xbox button to view the screenshot and share it, if you’d like. Alternatively, these screenshots also appear on the Xbox apps across platforms, so you can share it from your phone or PC, too.
How to take Xbox Series X|S screenshots when you’re not gaming
When you’re not playing games on the Xbox Series X|S, the easiest way to take a screenshot is through remote play. You can stream Xbox games to your iPhone, iPad, Android, or Windows device. Once you’ve set that up, you can snap screenshots of all the pages on Xbox, whether you’re in a game or not.
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Streaming Xbox games to other devices is basically like using your smartphone or PC as a display for the gaming console. This means that you’ll be able to see the Xbox’s home screen, settings pages, or any other system UI page, on your smartphone or computer.
If you’re streaming games from Xbox Series X|S to your iPhone or iPad, you can take a screenshot by pressing power button + volume up on Apple devices that do not have a home button. If your Apple device has a home button, you can use the power button + home button shortcut to take a screenshot.
On Android, you can take these screenshots by opening the Xbox app and setting up the stream. When you’re ready, press power button + volume down. Those streaming Xbox One games to Windows can either press Print Screen or Windows key + Shift + S to grab a screenshot.
It is a bit of a shame that you can’t natively take a screenshot outside of games on the Xbox Series X|S, but hey, if nothing else, it’s an opportunity to give remote play a shot. It’s actually the reason I now regularly play Xbox games on my iPad; maybe you’ll enjoy it, too.
