We've all been there. You drop your phone at just the wrong angle, and suddenly, your Power or Volume Down buttons stop working.
While you might be able to wake the phone up by plugging it in or using a fingerprint scanner, one major problem remains: How do you take a screenshot?
Usually, taking a screenshot on Android requires holding the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously. If those are broken, you might think you're out of luck.
Fortunately, you can take a pixel-perfect screenshot directly from your computer using WebADB.in—with absolutely zero software installation required.
Why Use WebADB for Screenshots?
There are a few ways to take screenshots without buttons (like using Google Assistant or downloading a third-party accessibility app), but they have downsides:
- Google Assistant doesn't always save the image locally.
- Third-party screenshot apps often have ads, require overlay permissions, or reduce image quality.
- Setting up traditional ADB on a PC requires downloading SDKs and installing drivers.
WebADB runs entirely in your Chrome or Edge browser. You just plug in your phone, click a button, and the screenshot is instantly downloaded to your PC in full resolution.
Step 1: Prepare Your Phone (USB Debugging)
To let your browser talk to your phone, you need to enable USB Debugging.
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Scroll down to About Phone.
- Find the Build Number and tap it 7 times in a row until it says you are a developer.
- Go back to Settings and open Developer Options (often found under System settings).
- Toggle USB Debugging to ON.
Step 2: Connect to the Browser
- Grab a USB cable and plug your phone into your computer.
- Open webadb.in in any browser that supports WebUSB (like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Brave).
- Click the big Connect Device button on the website.
- A small browser popup will appear showing your phone. Select it and click Connect.
- Check your phone screen! A prompt will ask if you want to "Allow USB debugging". Check "Always allow" and tap OK.
Step 3: Capture the Screen
Now for the easy part.
- On WebADB, navigate to the Screenshot tab on the left menu.
- Make sure the screen you want to capture is currently displaying on your phone.
- Click the Capture button.
Instantly, a full-resolution PNG of your phone's screen will appear in the browser. You can right-click to copy it, or click the download button to save it straight to your computer's hard drive.
What else can I do?
If your buttons are broken, you might have trouble rebooting your phone too. You can also use WebADB to restart your device!
Just go to the Shell tab in WebADB, type reboot, and press Enter. Your phone will safely restart.
Don't let a broken button stop you from using your device. Head over to WebADB.in the next time you need to capture your screen.