How to quickly take a screenshot on iPad with your Apple Pencil

iPad screenshot with Apple Pencil

You can screenshot anything displayed on your iPad screen by pressing the top button and the Home button or the volume up button at the same time, depending on which iPad model you have. If your tablet supports the Apple Pencil stylus, you can quickly take an iPad screenshot with Apple Pencil without having to press any buttons, and we show you how.

Reaching those buttons is impractical when taking a bunch of screenshots, even more so if you happen to own a larger iPad model. That’s why Apple has created a way for iPad owners to become more productive by allowing them to quickly take a screenshot with their Apple Pencil.

TROUBLESHOOTER: Fixing Apple Pencil unresponsiveness after initial setup

This cool Apple Pencil shortcut was introduced in the iPadOS software update that released publicly on September 24, 2019. Follow along with our tutorial included right ahead for step-by-step instructions explaining how to take a screenshot on iPad with your Apple Pencil.

How to take iPad screenshots with Apple Pencil

Follow these steps to take a screenshot on your iPad with Apple Pencil:

  1. Grab your Apple Pencil and make sure it’s paired with your iPad.
  2. Using the stylus, swipe up diagonally from the bottom-corner of the iPad display.

And that’s it!

Tap the thumbnail that briefly appears in the bottom-left corner to open the screenshot or swipe the thumbnail left to dismiss the screenshot. Opening the screenshot takes you to the same screen as when screenshotting with the top button and the Home/volume up button.

How to take an iPad screenshot with Apple Pencil
Swipe your Apple Pencil from the bottom-corner on either side of the iPad screen to take a screenshot

You can also use the built-in Markup tools to edit the image as you normally would. To instantly share the screenshot after editing, hit the Share button. To have the image saved to the Screenshots album in the Photos app, tap Done then choose Save Screenshot.

Apple Support shared an animation on Twitter showing you how to do it.

Apple Pencil compatibility

All modern iPads support the original Apple Pencil (with a cap on it concealing a Lightning connector for wired charging) and some models support the second-generation Apple Pencil.

TUTORIAL: Editing screenshots with Instant Markup

As a general rule of thumb, no iPads that feature support for the second-generation Apple Pencil work with the original Apple Pencil model, and vice versa.

The following iPads support the original Apple Pencil:

  • 2015 iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
  • 2016 iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
  • 2017 iPad Pro (10.5-inch)
  • 2017 iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
  • 2018 iPad (6th generation)
  • 2019 iPad (7th generation)
  • 2019 iPad Air 3 (3rd generation)
  • 2019 iPad mini 5 (5th generation)

And these iPads support the second-generation Apple Pencil, as per Apple:

  • 2018 iPad Pro (11-inch) and later
  • 2018 iPad Pro (12.9-inch) and later

Be sure to watch our video further below for a review of the second-generation Apple Pencil.

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