How to Copy Text from a Screenshot or Image (OCR)

To copy text out of a screenshot or a picture, open Image to Text, add the image, choose the language and the kind of text layout, and the text is read with OCR (optical character recognition). Copy the extracted text and paste it anywhere. It runs in your browser, so screenshots with private information aren't uploaded.

Extract text from an image

1. Open Image to Text and add the image — drag, click to choose, or paste a screenshot straight from your clipboard.
2. Choose the Language of the text.
3. Choose the layout that matches the image:
   • Automatic — let the tool decide.
   • One block of text or One column — paragraphs, articles, documents.
   • One line — a title or a label.
   • One word — a single word.
   • Scattered text — labels dotted around, like an app interface or a diagram.
4. If needed, use Brightness, Contrast and Enlarge to make the text clearer for recognition.
5. Copy the Extracted text.

What works best

The tool is designed for clear, typed text on a plain background:

• Screenshots of documents, error messages, chats, settings and web pages.
• Photos of printed signs, menus and notices taken straight on.
• Slides and presentation screenshots.
• Labels on products with clear print.

It works less well on handwriting, decorative or very small fonts, text on busy photos, and text at an angle.

Tips for clean results

• Crop to the text first with the Image Cropper — removing icons, photos and other clutter avoids stray characters.
• Choose the right layout. "Scattered text" for app screenshots stops the tool from merging unrelated labels into one sentence.
• Enlarge small text. OCR reads tiny text poorly; the Enlarge option helps.
• Raise contrast for faint text or photos taken in poor light.
• Pick the right language, especially for accents and non-Latin scripts.
• Proofread. OCR mixes up similar shapes — 0 and O, 1 and l, rn and m.

Your phone can do this too

Modern phones read text in photos natively:

• iPhone (Live Text): open a photo or screenshot and touch and hold on the text to select and copy it.
• Android (Google Lens): open the photo in Google Photos and tap Lens, then select the text.

The browser tool helps on computers, with images that aren't in your gallery, and when you want the text from the whole image at once.

Why local recognition matters

Screenshots are some of the most private images people have: bank apps, chats, email, two-factor codes, medical results. Many online OCR services upload them to a server. Here the recognition engine runs inside your browser, so the image is read on your own device and never sent anywhere.

Scanned documents and PDFs

For multi-page scans and PDFs — contracts, letters, book pages — use PDF OCR, which reads every page of a scanned PDF and handles 29 languages.

What to do with the text

• Edit it in a document instead of retyping.
• Translate it: paste it into the AI Translator.
• Search or quote it.
• Fill in a form with details copied from a screenshot (check them carefully).

Frequently asked questions

Is my screenshot uploaded?

No. Recognition runs in your browser, so private chats and documents stay on your device.

Can it read handwriting?

Not reliably. Neat printed capitals sometimes work; joined-up handwriting usually doesn't.

Why is the first run slower?

The recognition engine and language data download once; later images start straight away.