How to create screenshots of a full webpage

If you found great helpful content online, you may want to save it for safe keeping. Screenshots are one option to do that. There are others, including saving the entire webpage to the local system or using tools such as SingleFile.

All operating systems support the creation of screenshots natively. On Windows, you’d just use Ctrl-Print to capture a screenshot. These screen capturing options are useful, but they are not ideal when it comes to capturing entire webpages, as they only capture the visible part.

Browsers with native screenshot tools

Several web browsers include native screenshot tools. Here is a list and how you activate the built-in screenshot function:

• Microsoft Edge — Open menu and select screenshot from the list of options. Pick capture full page next and use the save icon to download the screenshot of the webpage to your system.
• Mozilla Firefox — Right-click anywhere on the page and select take screenshot from the menu. Select Save full page to create a screenshot of the entire webpage. It takes a moment before a preview is displayed. Use the download button to save it to the local system.
• Opera — Select the snapshot icon in the address bar to create a screenshot. Activate the capture full webpage button to create a screenshot of the entire webpage. Options to edit the screenshot and save it to the local system are provided after a moment.
• Vivaldi — Activate the camera icon in Vivaldi’s status bar to open the screenshot options. Select full page and then the capture button to save the screenshot to the local system.

Browsers that require an extension to take screenshots

• Google Chrome — You may use a browser extension such as GoFullPage or FireShot to capture entire pages.

Technically, Chrome supports capturing screenshots natively. The feature is available in the Developer Tools, which makes it difficult to access. Still, it may be an option if you do not want to install a browser extension for creating screenshots.

Here is how you use it:

1. Open the webpage that you want to create a whole screenshot from.
2. Use Ctrl-Shift-I to open the Developer Tools. On Mac, you use Command-Option-I. This opens the Developer Tools interface.
3. Use Ctrl-Shift-P to open the run box. On Mac, you use Command-Shift-P instead.
4. Type screenshot and select capture full size screenshot.
5. Chrome saves the screenshot to the local system.

Bonus Tip: Android

Android’s native screen capturing tool supports full webpage captures. You may know that you can take a screenshot of the visible screen by pressing the Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time.

Android displays several options afterwards. This includes a a “down” icon. Press it once and Android scrolls down a bit on the webpage and appends more to the screenshot automatically.

Tip: press and hold the icon until the end of the page is reached to create a full webpage screenshot.

Do you take screenshots of webpages? If so, how do you capture them and why? If not, do you use a different method to save information?