I was attempting to capture a photo of the screen using my Samsung Galaxy Note8 Android phone this morning and was greeted with a message that told me “Can’t take screenshot due to security policy“. What could be causing this issue?
Reason 1 – Chrome Incognito Mode
The Android OS now prevents screenshots from being taken while in Incognito Mode in the Chrome browser. There is currently no way to disable this “feature”. You can install Firefox and take a screenshot in Incognito mode there, but if you are taking a screenshot in Google Chrome, you must not be using Incognito Mode to do it.
Reason 2 – Policy set on Phone
If your Android device was issued to you by a school or company, they may have enforced policies that prevent screenshots. The policy can also be enforced if you have added a company account to your phone.
You will either need to talk to the IT department, or remove the account associated with the policy from “Accounts” in “Settings“.
Wendy Heit says
May 9, 2019 at 1:43 amI had same issue & thought it was due to an update, but then I went into Advanced Features & remembered I had enabled the box next to “Palm swipe to capture (screenshots)”. Once I disabled it I could take a screenshot again on my Galaxy s7.
Donald Fillmore says
May 2, 2019 at 5:44 pmOnce I did an update on the phone I wasnt able to do screenshots. I have a note 8.
Faruk says
April 17, 2019 at 8:39 amThis set is lava iris. Now i can’t any file delate in the set and not download. Please Solution.
Josh says
April 10, 2019 at 5:19 amI’ve got the problem with Android 6.0.1 !!
Mark says
March 30, 2019 at 12:17 amGoogle find my device does not allow it also.
Yaniv Rabl says
March 26, 2019 at 12:29 pmIf you’re inside an enterprise, your IT might set the policy DisableScreenshots to true.
You can check it by going into chrome://policy and search for this key.
Jocy says
March 19, 2019 at 5:40 pmSame problem with my Galaxy A6, I cannot figure out how to fix it. Looks like I should hipdve stuck with iphone.
Noni says
March 8, 2019 at 5:14 amSame problem with my android galaxy note 9..can’t take screen shot
CHRIS DELALI says
March 4, 2019 at 8:17 amIf you are doing a screenshot on Android Chrome browser, make sure you close all incognito screens. That works for me.
G says
December 28, 2018 at 5:17 pmHaving this issue with screenshots for anything in Chrome browser. Not in incognito, using personal device.
Nonny says
November 25, 2018 at 4:53 pmThank you! I switched out of Incognito and was able to take screenshots again in regular Chrome.
... says
November 4, 2018 at 7:42 amSame problem, the way I fixed it was to go into device maintenance and to ‘optimise now’. Though I am no expert in coding, I think that it might have been a corrupted file in the system.
Jay says
September 20, 2018 at 10:59 amI have the same issue, Using Samsung Galaxy S8+ for testing our app and need to take an screen shots of a issue to send to the dev team, but cannot do.
I use iPhone to take a photo of the Android screen.
I wish if I do not need to test in Android.
That is why I am using iPhone for my personal use.
Steve Whitaker says
September 20, 2018 at 5:48 amSame issue. S8+ Personal device. NOT rooted. Previously able to take screenshots, but not today. I was in the Honeywell App, not a browser. Have taken screenshots while in the app before, without any issues. Please help!
Tim Kuhner says
September 18, 2018 at 8:23 pmAny solutions? I have a Note 8 as well.
Mervin says
June 18, 2018 at 11:46 amHaving the same issue now. Screenshot won’t work on everything. I can’t figure out which app is affecting this on my Note 8.