You're plugged in, on the go, and playing your favorite station on Spotify when a great new song comes on. Sure, you could go into your notes and type the name, but the fastest way to save it for later is to take a quick screenshot.
Also known as a screen grab or screen capture, this speedy process differs from device to device, so here's what you need to know when trying to save a screen.
To screenshot a funny text message, a website, or anything else on your iPhone, hold down and press the power button and home button simultaneously. You'll see a quick flash to let you know that the picture was taken, and then you can find it within your photo library.
On a Mac, you have more control over how much of the screen you want to capture. Hold down and release the Command, Shift, and 4 keys simultaneously. Drag the pointer that appears over any section of the screen. The screenshot will be saved to your desktop as a .png file. If you want to snap the whole screen, hold down Command, Shift, and 3 at the same time.
For Android phones, hold down the power key and volume button at the same time to save your screen as a photo in your gallery. Some phones require you to hold the "volume down" button (LG G series phones) while others require the "volume up" button (Windows phones), so you'll need to test out your individual device to see which one offers the satisfying click that tells you the screen grab has been taken. On Windows phones, you can also search Cortana for the Snipping tool and pin that to your toolbar, so you can control exactly which part of the screen you'd like to screenshot.
For PC users, some Windows 8 and 10 keyboards have a Print Screen key that you can use to take a screenshot. For those without, use the Snipping Tool (search for it on the taskbar).
Screenshots can make your desktop or photo library messy, but they're a quick and effective way to save information.
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