How to take a screenshot on your Google Pixel Watch

Knowing how to take a screenshot of your Google Pixel Watch is a great way to document bugs and performance issues on your watch so you can get help. You might also want to take a screenshot of your watch face to show others or even document important notifications.

While other smartwatches like Apple Watch and Samsung’s Wear OS Galaxy Watches offer an easy and straightforward way to take a screenshot by pressing both side buttons, Google did not include that option on its Pixel Watch.

Google does include a tool in its Watch app that allows you to take screenshots of your watch, but it’s a hidden feature.

This article outlines in a detailed step-by-step guide how to enable this feature so you can take screenshots of your Pixel Watch.

So let’s get to it!

Related reading

• Forgot Google Pixel Watch screen lock pin or pattern or it’s not recognized and locked you out? How to fix it
• How to Take a Screenshot on your Samsung Galaxy Watch Device
• How to disable reminder to move notifications on Google Pixel Watch

How to take a screenshot of your Google Pixel Watch

Unlike many other smartwatches on the market (think Apple or Samsung), you cannot take a screenshot on your Pixel Watch directly on the watch. Instead, you use your paired phone and the Google Watch app.

The process is similar to smartwatches that run the older Google Wear OS, like the Fossil Gen 5. However, you must first place your watch and phone in Developer Mode.

Unfortunately, at this time, you must be in Developer Mode to capture screenshots.

Before you start, ensure your Pixel Watch and phone show up connected to each other, then follow these steps.

Turn on Developer mode on your Pixel Watch

The first step is to turn on Developer mode on your watch. Although you can easily turn this mode on, you cannot easily turn it off! Currently, the only way to turn it off is by resetting your watch back to factory settings.

1. On your watch, press the Digital Crown and open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and choose System.
3. Use the Digital Crown or your finger to scroll down and select About.
4. Scroll down and tap Versions.
5. Locate the Build number.
6. Repeatedly tap on it until you see the message No need, you are already a developer.

Turn on Developer mode on your phone

Once you turn on Developer mode on your watch, you must also turn it on for your paired phone. These instructions are for my Pixel phone–enabling developer mode may differ for your model phone.

1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap About phone.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and repeatedly tap the Build number until you see the message You are now a developer or No need, you are already a developer.
   

Take a screenshot on your Google Pixel Watch

With Developer mode enabled on both your Pixel Watch and phone, you should now be able to capture a screenshot on your watch.

1. First, choose what you want to screenshot on your watch so it’s showing on your watch’s screen.
2. Then, open the Google Watch app on your phone.
3. Verify your watch shows as Connected to the Watch app.
4. You should now see a three vertical dots button at the app’s top next to the Updates bubble.
   1. If you don’t see either the Updates bubble or the three-dot button, swipe down from the top of your phone.
   2. If you still don’t see it, ensure you enable developer mode on your watch and phone.
5. Tap that three-dot button. 
6. Verify that your watch’s screen still shows what you want to screenshot. It might have locked depending on your screen’s time-out settings, so tap the screen to wake it.
7. Tap Take screen shot on watch.
   1. If asked, choose the app you want to share your screenshot with. We use the Google Photos app.
   2. Choose if you want to share screenshots from your watch just this once or always.
8. Immediately look for a notification that the Watch app has a screenshot ready to send. If you don’t see it, open your phone’s notification center.
9. Open that notification. You should see your screenshot as a photo ready to upload to your Google account.
10. Tap the Upload button at the bottom.
11. You should get a confirmation that the photo is uploading.
12. Once uploaded, open the Photos app and confirm the screenshot shows up.

How to turn off Developer mode

At this time, once you turn on Developer mode on your Pixel Watch, the only way to turn it off is to reset your watch back to factory settings. 

However, you can use your watch normally, even with Developer mode on. It doesn’t impact your user experience at all. So many people choose to ignore it instead of resetting their watches.

Now, you can turn off Developer mode on your phone. And it’s easy!

Once you turn off your phone’s developer options, it automatically disables the developer menu in the Google Watch app, so you won’t see the three-dot menu and cannot take more screenshots of your Pixel Watch.

1. Open the Settings app on your phone.
2. Scroll down and tap System.
3. Choose Developer options at the bottom.
4. Toggle off Use developer options.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, you can now take screenshots of your Google Pixel Watch. 

If you had trouble, ensure you enabled Developer mode on the Watch and its paired phone. 

Also, restarting both devices after making those changes can help each detect the other is in developer mode.