How to take a snapshot in Pokemon Go

Aakrit Sharma
Pokemon Go snapshots of Hoothoot, Jessie, and James

Pokemon Go is loaded with augmented-reality features and snapshots are one of them. You can get pictures of your favorite Pokemon in real-life settings through snapshots, and here’s how to take snapshots of caught Pokemon, wild Pokemon, and Buddy Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go took the internet by storm by offering fans a chance to catch Pokemon like an actual trainer. Features like snapshots make the experience even better, as they show how your favorite Pokemon would look in the real world.

Players love taking snapshots of the Pokemon they adore the most. Most of the time, these include their shiny Pokemon, Lucky Pokemon, Shadow Pokemon, and Legendary Pokemon.

Learning how to take a snapshot in Pokemon Go is essential, not just for fun, but also for completing several Research tasks. Here’s how to take snapshots of your Buddy Pokemon, the Pokemon you’ve caught, and even wild Pokemon.

Pikachu checking out snapshots
Pokemon Go players can increase their friendship with Buddy Pokemon by taking a snapshot.

How to use snapshot feature in Pokemon Go

To take a snapshot in Pokemon Go, your device must support the AR feature. The minimum requirements for this are:

  • iOS – iPhone 6 and above with iOS 11 or above.
  • Android – Devices with Android 7.0 and above should be compatible with ARCore.

Assuming that your device meets these requirements, here’s how you can take different types of snapshots in the game.

Snapshots of Pokemon caught

Follow these steps to take a snapshot of a Pokemon that you’ve caught:

  1. Launch Pokemon Go and tap on the Pokeball icon in the middle to open the Main Menu.
  2. Select the Pokemon option which should open the list of all the Pokemon you’ve caught.
  3. Search for and select the Pokemon that you want to take a snapshot of. This should open the Pokemon’s summary that showcases their CP, stats, and moves, among other things.
  4. Click on the camera icon in the top-right corner to open the AR mode.
  5. If you’re using AR+, you can choose the perfect spot to place your Pokemon and tap on the camera icon in the middle to take a snapshot.
  6. For players who do not have AR+, the Pokemon will be automatically placed on a surface.
Hisuian Growlithe and Weavile in Pokemon Go
Pokemon perform unique actions while posing for snapshots in Pokemon Go.

Snapshots of wild Pokemon

Follow these steps to take a snapshot of wild Pokemon in Pokemon Go:

  1. Launch Pokemon Go and start walking. Wild Pokemon should randomly start appearing near your character.
  2. Tap on the wild Pokemon you want to take a snapshot of.
  3. Tap the camera icon at the top of the screen.
  4. Tap on the camera icon at the bottom of the screen to take a snapshot.

Snapshots of buddy Pokemon

Follow these steps to take a snapshot of your buddy Pokemon in Pokemon Go:

  1. Launch Pokemon Go and tap on your buddy Pokemon. The icon for it is located in the bottom-left corner of the screen, beside your name, level, and trainer’s avatar.
  2. In the buddy Pokemon menu, simply tap on your buddy to enable AR mode.
  3. Find a flat surface to place the buddy Pokemon in AR+ settings.
  4. Click on the camera icon in between to take a snapshot.
An Eevee standing near a Pokemon Go trainer
You can save your Pokemon Go snapshots to your device.

At times, wild Pokemon or Team Go Rocket members Jessie and James photobomb your Pokemon Go snapshots which, to be fair, is not a bad thing. You can save, share, and delete your snapshots as well.


This was everything to know about snapshots in Pokemon Go. For more Pokemon content, check out:

How to connect Pokemon Go to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | Pokemon Go Spotlight Hour schedule | How to heal Pokemon in Pokemon Go | How many Pokemon are there? | Best Pokemon for PvP battles in Pokemon Go | How to get revives in Pokemon Go | Pokemon Go best attackers ranked | How to get Master Ball in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | How many Pokemon types are in Scarlet & Violet?

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About The Author

Aakrit is a games writer with over 2000 published articles for EssentiallySports, Sportskeeda, FortniteINTEL, and CharlieINTEL. Currently, he writes guides on Minecraft, Roblox, Pokemon games, Genshin Impact, and Brawlhalla. Aakrit loves playing shooter games and in his free time, you can find him queued up in Valorant, Fortnite, Apex Legends, or Halo Infinite. You can contact Aakrit at [email protected].