Taking a screenshot directly on an Apple Watch is great for creating guides like this one, or perhaps you just want to share a capture with friends and family. It’s easy to do despite the seemingly limited wearable design: Just press two buttons and your screenshot is saved. More importantly, it’s native — you don’t need a third-party app.
To take a screenshot, you’ll need the paired iPhone first to toggle on the screenshot capture tool. You’ll also need the iPhone to view, edit, and share the screenshot. You can see these captured images directly on your Apple Watch too, and we show you how.
This guide is based on the Apple Watch Series 3 with WatchOS 7.1 and an iPhone 12 Pro Max with iOS 14.3.
How to take a screenshot on Apple Watch
First, we start on the iPhone and then move to the Apple Watch. Here’s what to do:
Step 1: On an iPhone, tap to open the Apple Watch app.
Step 2: Tap the My Watch tab if it doesn’t load by default.
Step 3: Tap General on the list.
Step 4: Scroll down and tap the toggle next to Enable Screenshots to turn this feature on (green).
Step 5: As shown above on the Apple Watch, use two fingers to press the side button (left) and the Digital Crown (right) at the same time.
The screen should briefly flash white, showing that you just took a screenshot.
Step 6: Go back to the iPhone and tap to open the Photos app.
Step 7: Tap the Albums tab listed at the bottom of the screen.
Step 8: Scroll down and tap the Screenshots group listed under Media Types.
Note: Screenshots also appear with everything else in the Photos app’s Library tab.
Step 9: Tap to open the screenshot you just captured. You can now edit and share the screenshot as needed.
How to view screenshots on the Apple Watch
For this, you’ll need to sync an album from the iPhone’s Photos app first. Here’s how:
Step 1: On an iPhone, tap to open the Apple Watch app.
Step 2: Tap the My Watch tab if it doesn’t load by default.
Step 3: Scroll down and tap Photos.
Step 4: Tap Selected Photos Album listed under Photo Syncing.
Step 5: Tap Recents, as you won’t see a dedicated Screenshots album.
Alternatively, you should see an option to select a photo album containing images with a specific width. For instance, screenshots from an Apple Watch 3 would be found in the Height: 445 pixel option on the list. Tap that option instead if you don’t want to sift through all the pictures you have in the Recents folder.
Step 6: On the Apple Watch, press the Digital Crown to load the app screen and then tap to open the Photos app.