How to programmatically take a screenshot on Android

Question

How can I take a screenshot of a selected area of phone-screen not by any program but from code

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For those who want to capture a GLSurfaceView, the getDrawingCache or drawing to canvas method won't work.

You have to read the content of the OpenGL framebuffer after the frame has been rendered. There is a good answer here

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My solution is   public static Bitmap loadBitmapFromView Context context  View v        DisplayMetrics dm   context getResources   getDisplayMetrics         v measure MeasureSpec makeMeasureSpec dm widthPixels  MeasureSpec EXACTLY               MeasureSpec makeMeasureSpec dm heightPixels  MeasureSpec EXACTLY        v layout 0  0  v getMeasuredWidth    v getMeasuredHeight         Bitmap returnedBitmap   Bitmap createBitmap v getMeasuredWidth                v getMeasuredHeight    Bitmap Config ARGB 8888       Canvas c   new Canvas returnedBitmap       v draw c        return returnedBitmap      and  public void takeScreen         Bitmap bitmap   ImageUtils loadBitmapFromView this  view     get Bitmap from the view     String mPath   Environment getExternalStorageDirectory     File separator    screen     System currentTimeMillis       jpeg       File imageFile   new File mPath       OutputStream fout   null      try           fout   new FileOutputStream imageFile           bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat JPEG  90  fout           fout flush          catch  FileNotFoundException e            e printStackTrace          catch  IOException e            e printStackTrace          finally           fout close              Images are saved in the external storage folder

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You can try to do something like this   Getting a bitmap cache from a layout or a view by doing something like First you gotta setDrawingCacheEnabled to a layout a linearlayout or relativelayout  or a view   then   Bitmap bm   layout getDrawingCache     Then you do whatever you want with the bitmap  Either turning it into an image file  or send the bitmap s uri to somewhere else

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If you want to take screenshot from fragment  than follow this    Override  onCreateView                Override         public View onCreateView LayoutInflater inflater  ViewGroup container                                   Bundle savedInstanceState                   Inflate the layout for this fragment             View view   inflater inflate R layout fragment one  container  false               mView   view             Logic for taking screenshot    button setOnClickListener new View OnClickListener       Override  public void onClick View v         View view    mView findViewById R id scrollView1         shareScreenShotM view   NestedScrollView  view        method shareScreenShotM      public void shareScreenShotM View view  NestedScrollView scrollView         bm   takeScreenShot view scrollView      method to take screenshot     File file   savePic bm       method to save screenshot in phone         method takeScreenShot              public Bitmap takeScreenShot View u  NestedScrollView z                u setDrawingCacheEnabled true               int totalHeight   z getChildAt 0  getHeight                int totalWidth   z getChildAt 0  getWidth                 Log d  yoheight      totalHeight               Log d  yowidth      totalWidth               u layout 0  0  totalWidth  totalHeight               u buildDrawingCache                Bitmap b   Bitmap createBitmap u getDrawingCache                 u setDrawingCacheEnabled false               u destroyDrawingCache                 return b             method savePic      public static File savePic Bitmap bm            ByteArrayOutputStream bytes   new ByteArrayOutputStream            bm compress Bitmap CompressFormat JPEG  100  bytes            File sdCardDirectory    new File Environment getExternalStorageDirectory       Foldername            if   sdCardDirectory exists                  sdCardDirectory mkdirs                       File file   new File dir  fileName         try            file   new File sdCardDirectory  Calendar getInstance                getTimeInMillis       jpg            file createNewFile            new FileOutputStream file  write bytes toByteArray             Log d  Fabsolute    File Saved  --- gt     file getAbsolutePath              Log d  Sabsolute    File Saved  --- gt     sdCardDirectory getAbsolutePath            catch  IOException e              e printStackTrace                 return file          For activity you can simply use View v1   getWindow   getDecorView   getRootView    instead of mView

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For system applications only   Process process  process   Runtime getRuntime   exec  screencap -p     outputPath   process waitFor      Note  System applications don t need to run  su  to execute this command

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Here is the code that allowed my screenshot to be stored on an SD card and used later for whatever your needs are   First  you need to add a proper permission to save the file    lt uses-permission android name  android permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE   gt    And this is the code  running in an Activity    private void takeScreenshot         Date now   new Date        android text format DateFormat format  yyyy-MM-dd hh mm ss   now        try              image naming and path  to include sd card  appending name you choose for file         String mPath   Environment getExternalStorageDirectory   toString           now     jpg               create bitmap screen capture         View v1   getWindow   getDecorView   getRootView            v1 setDrawingCacheEnabled true           Bitmap bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap v1 getDrawingCache             v1 setDrawingCacheEnabled false            File imageFile   new File mPath            FileOutputStream outputStream   new FileOutputStream imageFile           int quality   100          bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat JPEG  quality  outputStream           outputStream flush            outputStream close             openScreenshot imageFile         catch  Throwable e               Several error may come out with file handling or DOM         e printStackTrace              And this is how you can open the recently generated image   private void openScreenshot File imageFile        Intent intent   new Intent        intent setAction Intent ACTION VIEW       Uri uri   Uri fromFile imageFile       intent setDataAndType uri   image          startActivity intent       If you want to use this on fragment view then use   View v1   getActivity   getWindow   getDecorView   getRootView      instead of  View v1   getWindow   getDecorView   getRootView      on takeScreenshot   function  Note   This solution doesn t work if your dialog contains a surface view  For details please check the answer to the following question   Android Take Screenshot of Surface View Shows Black Screen

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Based on the answer of  JustinMorris above and  NiravDangi here https   stackoverflow com a 8504958 2232148 we must take the background and foreground of a view and assemble them like this   public static Bitmap takeScreenshot View view  Bitmap Config quality        Bitmap bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap view getWidth    view getHeight    quality       Canvas canvas   new Canvas bitmap        Drawable backgroundDrawable   view getBackground        if  backgroundDrawable    null            backgroundDrawable draw canvas         else           canvas drawColor Color WHITE             view draw canvas        return bitmap      The quality parameter takes a constant of Bitmap Config  typically either Bitmap Config RGB 565 or Bitmap Config ARGB 8888

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Short way is   FrameLayout layDraw    FrameLayout  findViewById R id layDraw     Your root view to be part of screenshot   layDraw buildDrawingCache    Bitmap bmp   layDraw getDrawingCache

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From Android 11  API level 30  you can take screen shot with the accessibility service  takeScreenshot - Takes a screenshot of the specified display and returns it via an AccessibilityService ScreenshotResult

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private void captureScreen         View v   getWindow   getDecorView   getRootView        v setDrawingCacheEnabled true       Bitmap bmp   Bitmap createBitmap v getDrawingCache         v setDrawingCacheEnabled false       try           FileOutputStream fos   new FileOutputStream new File Environment                  getExternalStorageDirectory   toString     SCREEN                    System currentTimeMillis       png             bmp compress CompressFormat PNG  100  fos           fos flush            fos close          catch  FileNotFoundException e            e printStackTrace          catch  IOException e            e printStackTrace              Add the permission in the manifest   lt uses-permission android name  android permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE   gt    For Supporting Marshmallow or above versions  please add the below code in the activity onCreate method  ActivityCompat requestPermissions this new String   Manifest permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE  00

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The parameter view is the root layout object       public static Bitmap screenShot View view                        Bitmap bitmap   null                      if  view getWidth    gt  0  amp  amp  view getHeight    gt  0                            bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap view getWidth                                    view getHeight    Bitmap Config ARGB 8888                           Canvas canvas   new Canvas bitmap                           view draw canvas                                             return bitmap

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For Full Page Scrolling Screenshot  If you want to capture a full View screenshot  Which contains a scrollview or so  then have a check at this library      https   github com peter1492 LongScreenshot   All you have to do is import the Gradel  and create an object of BigScreenshot    BigScreenshot longScreenshot   new BigScreenshot this  x  y    A callback will be received with the bitmap of the Screenshots taken while automatically scrolling through the screen view group and at the end assembled together     Override  public void getScreenshot Bitmap bitmap      Which can be saved to the gallery or whatsoever usage is necessary their after

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Most of the answers for this question use the the Canvas drawing method or drawing cache method  However  the View setDrawingCache   method is deprecated in API 28  Currently the recommended API for making screenshots is the PixelCopy class available from API 24  but the methods which accept Window parameter are available from API 26    Android 8 0 Oreo   Here is a sample Kotlin code for retrieving a Bitmap    RequiresApi Build VERSION CODES O  fun saveScreenshot view  View        val window    view context as Activity  window     if  window    null            val bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap view width  view height  Bitmap Config ARGB 8888          val locationOfViewInWindow   IntArray 2          view getLocationInWindow locationOfViewInWindow          try               PixelCopy request window  Rect locationOfViewInWindow 0   locationOfViewInWindow 1   locationOfViewInWindow 0    view width  locationOfViewInWindow 1    view height   bitmap    copyResult - gt                  if  copyResult    PixelCopy SUCCESS                        saveBitmap bitmap                                       possible to handle other result codes                    Handler              catch  e  IllegalArgumentException                   PixelCopy may throw IllegalArgumentException  make sure to handle it

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Just extending taraloca s answer  You must add followings lines to make it work  I have made the image name static  Please ensure you use taraloca s timestamp variable incase you need dynamic image name          Storage Permissions private static final int REQUEST EXTERNAL STORAGE   1  private static String   PERMISSIONS STORAGE             Manifest permission READ EXTERNAL STORAGE          Manifest permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE     private void verifyStoragePermissions            Check if we have write permission     int permission   ActivityCompat checkSelfPermission this  Manifest permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE        if  permission    PackageManager PERMISSION GRANTED               We don t have permission so prompt the user         ActivityCompat requestPermissions this  PERMISSIONS STORAGE  REQUEST EXTERNAL STORAGE        else          takeScreenshot              Override public void onRequestPermissionsResult int requestCode   NonNull String   permissions   NonNull int   grantResults        super onRequestPermissionsResult requestCode  permissions  grantResults        if  grantResults 0     PackageManager PERMISSION GRANTED            if  requestCode    REQUEST EXTERNAL STORAGE                takeScreenshot                        And in the AndroidManifest xml file following entries are must     lt uses-permission android name  android permission READ EXTERNAL STORAGE    gt   lt uses-permission android name  android permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE    gt

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Note  works only for rooted phone  Programmatically  you can run adb shell  system bin screencap -p  sdcard img png as below  Process sh   Runtime getRuntime   exec  su   null null   OutputStream os   sh getOutputStream    os write    system bin screencap -p       sdcard img png   getBytes  ASCII     os flush    os close    sh waitFor          then read img png as Bitmap and use as your wish

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No root permission or no big coding is required for this method     On adb shell using below command you can take screen shot   input keyevent 120   This command does not required any root permission so same you can perform from java code of android application also   Process process  process   Runtime getRuntime   exec  input keyevent 120      More about keyevent code in android see http   developer android com reference android view KeyEvent html  Here we have used   KEYCODE SYSRQ its value is 120 and used for System Request   Print Screen key       As CJBS said  The output picture will be saved in  sdcard Pictures Screenshots

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Mualig answer is very good  but I had the same problem Ewoks describes  I m not getting the background  So sometimes is good enough and sometimes I get black text over black background  depending on the theme    This solution is heavily based in Mualig code and the code I ve found in Robotium  I m discarding the use of drawing cache by calling directly to the draw method  Before that I ll try to get the background drawable from current activity to draw it first      Some constants final static String SCREENSHOTS LOCATIONS   Environment getExternalStorageDirectory   toString       screenshots        Get device dimmensions Display display   getWindowManager   getDefaultDisplay    Point size   new Point    display getSize size       Get root view View view   mCurrentUrlMask getRootView        Create the bitmap to use to draw the screenshot final Bitmap bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap size x  size y  Bitmap Config ARGB 4444   final Canvas canvas   new Canvas bitmap       Get current theme to know which background to use final Activity activity   getCurrentActivity    final Theme theme   activity getTheme    final TypedArray ta   theme      obtainStyledAttributes new int     android R attr windowBackground     final int res   ta getResourceId 0  0   final Drawable background   activity getResources   getDrawable res       Draw background background draw canvas       Draw views view draw canvas       Save the screenshot to the file system FileOutputStream fos   null  try       final File sddir   new File SCREENSHOTS LOCATIONS       if   sddir exists              sddir mkdirs              fos   new FileOutputStream SCREENSHOTS LOCATIONS               System currentTimeMillis       jpg        if  fos    null            if   bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat JPEG  90  fos                 Log d LOGTAG   Compress Write failed                      fos flush            fos close             catch  FileNotFoundException e           TODO Auto-generated catch block     e printStackTrace      catch  IOException e           TODO Auto-generated catch block     e printStackTrace

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You can try the following library  http   code google com p android-screenshot-library  Android Screenshot Library  ASL  enables to programmatically capture screenshots from Android devices without requirement of having root access privileges  Instead  ASL utilizes a native service running in the background  started via the Android Debug Bridge  ADB  once per device boot

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if you want to capture a view or layout like RelativeLayout or LinearLayout etc  just use the code     LinearLayout llMain    LinearLayout  findViewById R id linearlayoutMain   Bitmap bm   loadBitmapFromView llMain     now you can save this bitmap on device storage by     FileOutputStream outStream   null  File f new File Environment getExternalStorageDirectory     Screen Shots     f mkdir    String extStorageDirectory   f toString    File file   new File extStorageDirectory   my new screen shot    pathOfImage   file getAbsolutePath    try       outStream   new FileOutputStream file       bm compress Bitmap CompressFormat PNG  100  outStream       Toast makeText getApplicationContext     Saved at   f getAbsolutePath    Toast LENGTH LONG  show        addImageGallery file         mail setEnabled true       flag true    catch  FileNotFoundException e   e printStackTrace     try       outStream flush        outStream close      catch  IOException e   e printStackTrace

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I have created a simple library that takes a screenshot from a View and either gives you a Bitmap object or saves it directly to any path you want  https   github com abdallahalaraby Blink

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public class ScreenShotActivity extends Activity   private RelativeLayout relativeLayout  private Bitmap myBitmap    Override protected void onCreate Bundle savedInstanceState        super onCreate savedInstanceState       setContentView R layout activity main        relativeLayout    RelativeLayout findViewById R id relative1       relativeLayout post new Runnable             public void run                    take screenshot             myBitmap   captureScreen relativeLayout                Toast makeText getApplicationContext     Screenshot captured      Toast LENGTH LONG  show                 try                   if myBitmap  null                         save image to SD card                     saveImage myBitmap                                     Toast makeText getApplicationContext     Screenshot saved      Toast LENGTH LONG  show                  catch  IOException e                       TODO Auto-generated catch block                 e printStackTrace                                         public static Bitmap captureScreen View v         Bitmap screenshot   null      try            if v  null                 screenshot   Bitmap createBitmap v getMeasuredWidth   v getMeasuredHeight    Config ARGB 8888               Canvas canvas   new Canvas screenshot               v draw canvas                   catch  Exception e           Log d  ScreenShotActivity    Failed to capture screenshot because     e getMessage                return screenshot     public static void saveImage Bitmap bitmap  throws IOException       ByteArrayOutputStream bytes   new ByteArrayOutputStream        bitmap compress Bitmap CompressFormat PNG  40  bytes       File f   new File Environment getExternalStorageDirectory     File separator    test png        f createNewFile        FileOutputStream fo   new FileOutputStream f       fo write bytes toByteArray         fo close           ADD PERMISSION    lt uses-permission android name  android permission WRITE EXTERNAL STORAGE   gt

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Call this method  passing in the outer most ViewGroup that you want a screen shot of   public Bitmap screenShot View view        Bitmap bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap view getWidth                view getHeight    Config ARGB 8888       Canvas canvas   new Canvas bitmap       view draw canvas       return bitmap

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Take screenshot of a view in android   public static Bitmap getViewBitmap View v        v clearFocus        v setPressed false        boolean willNotCache   v willNotCacheDrawing        v setWillNotCacheDrawing false        int color   v getDrawingCacheBackgroundColor        v setDrawingCacheBackgroundColor 0        if  color    0            v destroyDrawingCache              v buildDrawingCache        Bitmap cacheBitmap   v getDrawingCache        if  cacheBitmap    null            return null             Bitmap bitmap   Bitmap createBitmap cacheBitmap        v destroyDrawingCache        v setWillNotCacheDrawing willNotCache       v setDrawingCacheBackgroundColor color        return bitmap

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As a reference  one way to capture the screen  and not just your app activity  is to capture the framebuffer  device  dev graphics fb0   To do this you must either have root privileges or your app must be an app with signature permissions   A permission that the system grants only if the requesting application is signed with the same certificate as the application that declared the permission   - which is very unlikely unless you compiled your own ROM   Each framebuffer capture  from a couple of devices I have tested  contained exactly one screenshot  People have reported it to contain more  I guess it depends on the frame display size   I tried to read the framebuffer continuously but it seems to return for a fixed amount of bytes read  In my case that is  3 410 432  bytes  which is enough to store a display frame of 854 480 RGBA  3 279 360 bytes   Yes  the frame  in binary  outputted from fb0 is RGBA in my device  This will most likely depend from device to device  This will be important for you to decode it     In my device  dev graphics fb0 permissions are so that only root and users from group graphics can read the fb0    graphics is a restricted group so you will probably only access fb0 with a rooted phone using su command   Android apps have the user id  uid    app    and group id  guid    app       adb shell has uid   shell and guid   shell  which has much more permissions than an app  You can actually check those permissions at  system permissions platform xml  This means you will be able to read fb0 in the adb shell without root but you will not read it within the app without root   Also  giving READ FRAME BUFFER and or ACCESS SURFACE FLINGER permissions on AndroidManifest xml will do nothing for a regular app because these will only work for  signature  apps   Also check this closed thread for more details

[android] How to programmatically take a screenshot on Android?

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