Screenshots Are Now Serious Business

Over the last five years, screenshots have evolved from playful archive to professional tool. But they are also equal parts memory bank and clutter trap

- Shephali Bhatt

Sheen Megha Akhlaq has 3,100 screenshots on her phone. They cover everything. From performance ads she's tracking as a brand executive at a skincare company, to reference images for campaign ideas, and WhatsApp chats with content creators she forwards to her boss to signal follow-ups on marketing initiatives. "Half my job is carried through these screenshots," says the 24-year-old from Mumbai.

She recalls how not too long ago, her gallery was mostly filled with screengrabs of unsolicited texts from men—school and college-era receipts that made gossip feel more real, less made-up. Now, that folder has more work than whispers.

Over the last five years, screenshots—an image of data displayed on a mobile or desktop screen—have evolved into a cornerstone of modern work culture. The shift from playful archive to professional tool happened largely during the pandemic, when official communication moved online, and remote work turned casual screenshots into a means to share work-related updates.

While the concept dates back to the 1960s, the modern-day screenshot found cultural footing in the 1980s, when gamers began mailing in scorecard screengrabs to magazines for a shot at printed glory, according to a 2020 Vice article.

In 2011, Snapchat brought in disappearing Stories—and with it, "screenshot notifications" that made users think twice before grabbing someone's self-destructing post. Instagram briefly tried the same before dropping it, though the warning still pops up if you screenshot a disappearing DM in "vanish mode".

Today, screenshots are serious business.