diff --git a/docs/reference/gtk/gtk3-sections.txt b/docs/reference/gtk/gtk3-sections.txt
index 7028b7b182..c9e13f5d90 100644
--- a/docs/reference/gtk/gtk3-sections.txt
+++ b/docs/reference/gtk/gtk3-sections.txt
@@ -4899,7 +4899,6 @@ gtk_widget_set_tooltip_window
 gtk_widget_get_has_tooltip
 gtk_widget_set_has_tooltip
 gtk_widget_trigger_tooltip_query
-gtk_widget_get_snapshot
 gtk_widget_get_window
 gtk_widget_get_allocation
 gtk_widget_set_allocation
diff --git a/gtk/gtk.symbols b/gtk/gtk.symbols
index ebe36be086..f11e3fd035 100644
--- a/gtk/gtk.symbols
+++ b/gtk/gtk.symbols
@@ -4245,7 +4245,6 @@ gtk_widget_get_screen
 gtk_widget_get_sensitive
 gtk_widget_get_settings
 gtk_widget_get_size_request
-gtk_widget_get_snapshot
 gtk_widget_get_state
 gtk_widget_get_style
 gtk_widget_get_tooltip_markup
diff --git a/gtk/gtkoffscreenwindow.c b/gtk/gtkoffscreenwindow.c
index 84aab743bb..a2ea06c709 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkoffscreenwindow.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkoffscreenwindow.c
@@ -31,11 +31,9 @@
  *
  * GtkOffscreenWindow is strictly intended to be used for obtaining
  * snapshots of widgets that are not part of a normal widget hierarchy.
- * It differs from gtk_widget_get_snapshot() in that the widget you
- * want to get a snapshot of need not be displayed on the user's screen
- * as a part of a widget hierarchy.  However, since GtkOffscreenWindow
- * is a toplevel widget you cannot obtain snapshots of a full window
- * with it since you cannot pack a toplevel widget in another toplevel.
+ * Since #GtkOffscreenWindow is a toplevel widget you cannot obtain
+ * snapshots of a full window with it since you cannot pack a toplevel
+ * widget in another toplevel.
  *
  * The idea is to take a widget and manually set the state of it,
  * add it to a GtkOffscreenWindow and then retrieve the snapshot
@@ -259,9 +257,7 @@ gtk_offscreen_window_init (GtkOffscreenWindow *window)
  * gtk_offscreen_window_new:
  *
  * Creates a toplevel container widget that is used to retrieve
- * snapshots of widgets without showing them on the screen.  For
- * widgets that are on the screen and part of a normal widget
- * hierarchy, gtk_widget_get_snapshot() can be used instead.
+ * snapshots of widgets without showing them on the screen.
  *
  * Return value: A pointer to a #GtkWidget
  *
diff --git a/gtk/gtkwidget.c b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
index 1e870a5abb..883a2d057b 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkwidget.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkwidget.c
@@ -10143,232 +10143,6 @@ gtk_widget_reset_shapes (GtkWidget *widget)
     gtk_reset_shapes_recurse (widget, priv->window);
 }
 
-static void
-expose_window (GdkWindow *window)
-{
-  GdkEvent event;
-  GList *l, *children;
-  gpointer user_data;
-  gboolean is_double_buffered;
-
-  gdk_window_get_user_data (window, &user_data);
-
-  if (user_data)
-    is_double_buffered = gtk_widget_get_double_buffered (GTK_WIDGET (user_data));
-  else
-    is_double_buffered = FALSE;
-  
-  event.expose.type = GDK_EXPOSE;
-  event.expose.window = g_object_ref (window);
-  event.expose.send_event = FALSE;
-  event.expose.count = 0;
-  event.expose.area.x = 0;
-  event.expose.area.y = 0;
-  gdk_drawable_get_size (GDK_DRAWABLE (window),
-			 &event.expose.area.width,
-			 &event.expose.area.height);
-  event.expose.region = cairo_region_create_rectangle (&event.expose.area);
-
-  /* If this is not double buffered, force a double buffer so that
-     redirection works. */
-  if (!is_double_buffered)
-    gdk_window_begin_paint_region (window, event.expose.region);
-  
-  gtk_main_do_event (&event);
-
-  if (!is_double_buffered)
-    gdk_window_end_paint (window);
-  
-  children = gdk_window_peek_children (window);
-  for (l = children; l != NULL; l = l->next)
-    {
-      GdkWindow *child = l->data;
-
-      /* Don't expose input-only windows */
-      if (gdk_drawable_get_depth (GDK_DRAWABLE (child)) != 0)
-	expose_window (l->data);
-    }
-  
-  g_object_unref (window);
-}
-
-/**
- * gtk_widget_get_snapshot:
- * @widget:    a #GtkWidget
- * @clip_rect: (allow-none): a #GdkRectangle or %NULL
- *
- * Create a #GdkPixmap of the contents of the widget and its children.
- *
- * Works even if the widget is obscured. The depth and visual of the
- * resulting pixmap is dependent on the widget being snapshot and likely
- * differs from those of a target widget displaying the pixmap.
- * The function gdk_pixbuf_get_from_drawable() can be used to convert
- * the pixmap to a visual independant representation.
- *
- * The snapshot area used by this function is the @widget's allocation plus
- * any extra space occupied by additional windows belonging to this widget
- * (such as the arrows of a spin button).
- * Thus, the resulting snapshot pixmap is possibly larger than the allocation.
- * 
- * If @clip_rect is non-%NULL, the resulting pixmap is shrunken to
- * match the specified clip_rect. The (x,y) coordinates of @clip_rect are
- * interpreted widget relative. If width or height of @clip_rect are 0 or
- * negative, the width or height of the resulting pixmap will be shrunken
- * by the respective amount.
- * For instance a @clip_rect <literal>{ +5, +5, -10, -10 }</literal> will
- * chop off 5 pixels at each side of the snapshot pixmap.
- * If non-%NULL, @clip_rect will contain the exact widget-relative snapshot
- * coordinates upon return. A @clip_rect of <literal>{ -1, -1, 0, 0 }</literal>
- * can be used to preserve the auto-grown snapshot area and use @clip_rect
- * as a pure output parameter.
- *
- * The returned pixmap can be %NULL, if the resulting @clip_area was empty.
- *
- * Return value: #GdkPixmap snapshot of the widget
- * 
- * Since: 2.14
- **/
-GdkPixmap*
-gtk_widget_get_snapshot (GtkWidget    *widget,
-                         GdkRectangle *clip_rect)
-{
-  GtkWidgetPrivate *priv;
-  int x, y, width, height;
-  GdkWindow *parent_window = NULL;
-  GdkPixmap *pixmap;
-  GList *windows = NULL, *list;
-
-  priv = widget->priv;
-
-  g_return_val_if_fail (GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget), NULL);
-  if (!gtk_widget_get_visible (widget))
-    return NULL;
-
-  /* the widget (and parent_window) must be realized to be drawable */
-  if (priv->parent && !gtk_widget_get_realized (priv->parent))
-    gtk_widget_realize (priv->parent);
-  if (!gtk_widget_get_realized (widget))
-    gtk_widget_realize (widget);
-
-  /* determine snapshot rectangle */
-  x = priv->allocation.x;
-  y = priv->allocation.y;
-  width = priv->allocation.width;
-  height = priv->allocation.height;
-
-  if (priv->parent && gtk_widget_get_has_window (widget))
-    {
-      /* grow snapshot rectangle to cover all widget windows */
-      parent_window = gtk_widget_get_parent_window (widget);
-      for (list = gdk_window_peek_children (parent_window); list; list = list->next)
-        {
-          GdkWindow *subwin = list->data;
-          gpointer windata;
-          int wx, wy, ww, wh;
-          gdk_window_get_user_data (subwin, &windata);
-          if (windata != widget)
-            continue;
-          windows = g_list_prepend (windows, subwin);
-          gdk_window_get_position (subwin, &wx, &wy);
-          gdk_drawable_get_size (subwin, &ww, &wh);
-          /* grow snapshot rectangle by extra widget sub window */
-          if (wx < x)
-            {
-              width += x - wx;
-              x = wx;
-            }
-          if (wy < y)
-            {
-              height += y - wy;
-              y = wy;
-            }
-          if (x + width < wx + ww)
-            width += wx + ww - (x + width);
-          if (y + height < wy + wh)
-            height += wy + wh - (y + height);
-        }
-    }
-  else if (!priv->parent)
-    x = y = 0; /* toplevel */
-
-  /* at this point, (x,y,width,height) is the parent_window relative
-   * snapshot area covering all of widget's windows.
-   */
-
-  /* shrink snapshot size by clip_rectangle */
-  if (clip_rect)
-    {
-      GdkRectangle snap = { x, y, width, height }, clip = *clip_rect;
-      clip.x = clip.x < 0 ? x : clip.x;
-      clip.y = clip.y < 0 ? y : clip.y;
-      clip.width = clip.width <= 0 ? MAX (0, width + clip.width) : clip.width;
-      clip.height = clip.height <= 0 ? MAX (0, height + clip.height) : clip.height;
-      if (priv->parent)
-        {
-          /* offset clip_rect, so it's parent_window relative */
-          if (clip_rect->x >= 0)
-            clip.x += priv->allocation.x;
-          if (clip_rect->y >= 0)
-            clip.y += priv->allocation.y;
-        }
-      if (!gdk_rectangle_intersect (&snap, &clip, &snap))
-        {
-          g_list_free (windows);
-          clip_rect->width = clip_rect->height = 0;
-          return NULL; /* empty snapshot area */
-        }
-      x = snap.x;
-      y = snap.y;
-      width = snap.width;
-      height = snap.height;
-    }
-
-  /* render snapshot */
-  pixmap = gdk_pixmap_new (priv->window, width, height, gdk_drawable_get_depth (priv->window));
-  for (list = windows; list; list = list->next) /* !NO_WINDOW widgets */
-    {
-      GdkWindow *subwin = list->data;
-      int wx, wy;
-      if (gdk_drawable_get_depth (GDK_DRAWABLE (subwin)) == 0)
-	continue; /* Input only window */
-      gdk_window_get_position (subwin, &wx, &wy);
-      gdk_window_redirect_to_drawable (subwin, pixmap, MAX (0, x - wx), MAX (0, y - wy),
-                                       MAX (0, wx - x), MAX (0, wy - y), width, height);
-
-      expose_window (subwin);
-    }
-  if (!windows) /* NO_WINDOW || toplevel => parent_window == NULL || parent_window == priv->window */
-    {
-      gdk_window_redirect_to_drawable (priv->window, pixmap, x, y, 0, 0, width, height);
-      expose_window (priv->window);
-    }
-  for (list = windows; list; list = list->next)
-    gdk_window_remove_redirection (list->data);
-  if (!windows) /* NO_WINDOW || toplevel */
-    gdk_window_remove_redirection (priv->window);
-  g_list_free (windows);
-
-  /* return pixmap and snapshot rectangle coordinates */
-  if (clip_rect)
-    {
-      clip_rect->x = x;
-      clip_rect->y = y;
-      clip_rect->width = width;
-      clip_rect->height = height;
-      if (priv->parent)
-        {
-          /* offset clip_rect from parent_window so it's widget relative */
-          clip_rect->x -= priv->allocation.x;
-          clip_rect->y -= priv->allocation.y;
-        }
-      if (0)
-        g_printerr ("gtk_widget_get_snapshot: %s (%d,%d, %dx%d)\n",
-                    G_OBJECT_TYPE_NAME (widget),
-                    clip_rect->x, clip_rect->y, clip_rect->width, clip_rect->height);
-    }
-  return pixmap;
-}
-
 /* style properties
  */
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtkwidget.h b/gtk/gtkwidget.h
index 22fdf38ca3..21f9455b81 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkwidget.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkwidget.h
@@ -741,8 +741,6 @@ GdkWindow *   gtk_widget_get_root_window (GtkWidget *widget);
 GtkSettings*  gtk_widget_get_settings    (GtkWidget *widget);
 GtkClipboard *gtk_widget_get_clipboard   (GtkWidget *widget,
 					  GdkAtom    selection);
-GdkPixmap *   gtk_widget_get_snapshot    (GtkWidget    *widget,
-                                          GdkRectangle *clip_rect);
 
 /* Multidevice support */
 gboolean         gtk_widget_get_support_multidevice (GtkWidget      *widget);