Taking a screenshot could make you forget what you wanted to remember, study of 892 people finds. The brain may be ‘offloading’ memories

Screenshots have become a quick way to save anything we might need later, from important messages and directions to images and information we do not want to lose. But new research suggests there may be an unexpected downside to this digital habit: taking a screenshot could make it harder to remember the information in the first place.

A study of 892 people across seven experiments found that participants generally had worse memories for images they had screenshotted than for images they had simply viewed. They also struggled to remember whether they had screenshotted an image or only looked at it.

The research, led by Sophia Fabrizio of Binghamton University and published in Memory & Cognition, builds on earlier research into the photo-taking impairment effect, in which taking photographs can sometimes weaken memory when people do not review the pictures afterward.

Study tested 892 people across seven experiments

The researchers conducted seven experiments involving undergraduate participants. In the experiments, people viewed images of artwork on their smartphones and were asked to either screenshot some of them or simply view them.

Later, participants were tested on what they remembered.

The results consistently showed poorer memory for artwork that had been screenshotted. Participants were also less reliable at identifying which pieces they had captured and which they had only viewed.

That suggests the effect may not be limited to the information contained in a screenshot.

“In addition, we found that participants also had trouble accurately identifying which art pieces they had screenshots of on their device, suggesting that people probably have screenshots stored on their phones that they do not even remember taking,” said Deanne Westerman, a study co-author and professor at Binghamton University.

Researchers think the brain may be ‘offloading’ memories

One possible explanation is cognitive offloading. The idea is that people may devote less mental effort to remembering information when they know it has been stored externally.

Phones, photographs, calendars, search engines and screenshots all allow us to keep information outside our own memory.

Laura Boxley, a clinical neuropsychologist at The Ohio State University, said this convenience could come with a trade-off.

“The tradeoff is that we may devote fewer cognitive resources to encoding information when we know it has been preserved elsewhere,” she said.

Another possibility is that people engage less with something after capturing it. Once an image has been saved, there may be less motivation to continue examining it or thinking about what it means.

Taking a screenshot may also divide attention

Researchers also considered divided attention as a possible reason.

Capturing an image requires people to perform an action on their phone, potentially taking mental resources away from processing what they are looking at.

Cullum said attention may be particularly important when people capture something without thinking much about the process.

“If you are taking a picture or screenshotting and not really paying attention to the process and never review it again, you’re less likely to recall elements of that action,” he said.

But divided attention does not appear to explain everything. Participants still showed a memory disadvantage when they were given extra time to look at an artwork before or after capturing it.

The researchers also proposed attentional disengagement. According to this theory, taking a screenshot may cause people to unconsciously distance themselves from the experience.

“This extends beyond captured information to the broader context of an event,” Fabrizio explained.

Screenshot only helps if you actually use it

The findings do not mean screenshots or photographs are inherently bad for memory. Earlier research suggests reviewing photographs can actually help with long-term retention.

The problem is that people often save far more images than they ever revisit. Estimates cited by the researchers suggest people take around 20 photos a day, while the average smartphone stores about 2,000 photos.

“Unless you are actively reviewing those images as cues for elaborative memory retrieval, it is unlikely to benefit you,” Fabrizio said.

Screenshots can therefore remain useful as an external memory tool, particularly when they are intentionally reviewed later.

Not a memory disorder

The researchers and outside experts also caution against overinterpreting the results.

Cullum noted that the experiments measured performance on specific memory tasks involving artwork. Performing worse on such a task is not the same as having an actual memory deficit.

The participants were also largely college-aged undergraduates, meaning the results may not apply in exactly the same way to everyone.

For people who genuinely want to remember information, active engagement may work better than simply saving it. Boxley suggests strategies such as writing down key points, summarising information in your own words, discussing it with someone else or testing yourself.

Screenshots can still provide an important memory aid, particularly for people who need help retrieving information later.