How to copy text from an image on any phone or computer

Copy text from an image with the free tool on this page

1. Choose the image. A JPG, PNG, WEBP or HEIC photo, a screenshot, or a one-page PDF up to 5 MB.
2. Press Get the text. The tool reads the whole image with OCR and shows every line in a few seconds, with no email and no account.
3. Copy or download. Copy the text in one click, or download it as a .txt file or as a Word document with the tables rebuilt.

This works the same on a phone, a tablet and a computer, because it runs in the browser. It suits the cases where selecting text by hand gets slow: a full letter, a receipt with columns, a form or a page of notes.

How do I copy text from a picture on an iPhone?

Open the photo in the Photos app, touch and hold a word, move the grab points to cover the text and tap Copy. To take every word in the photo, tap Select All[1]. Live Text needs an iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later with iOS 15 or later[1].

The same gesture works on an image in Safari. For the Notes scanner, the Files scanner and HEIC photos, read the full guide to copying text from an image on iPhone.

How do I copy text from an image on Android?

Open the Google app, tap Google Lens, then Search, and take a photo or pick one under Screenshots. Tap the text or drag the region box over it, tap Select text and choose Copy[2]. Lens also offers Listen, Translate and Search on the same selection[2].

On a Samsung Galaxy with One UI 6.1 or later, Circle to Search does it from any screen: hold the Home button, circle the text, tap Select text, then Copy[4]. Circle to Search works only with an internet connection[4].

How do I copy text from an image on Windows or a Mac?

On Windows, capture the image with the Snipping Tool, select Text actions and use Copy all text, or select just the lines you want[3]. Microsoft says the text recognition runs on your device[3]. The PowerToys add-on has a shortcut for the same job, covered on the PowerToys Text Extractor page.

On a Mac, Preview and Photos select text in a picture the same way Live Text does on the iPhone. The OCR on Mac guide and the OCR on Windows guide walk through both systems.

Copy text from an image with a Chrome extension

A browser extension helps when the text sits in an image or a video on a web page. Copyfish, for example, lets you mark the area of an image you want, reads it with OCR and gives you the text to copy or translate[5]. It runs in Chrome, Edge and Firefox[6]. A comparison is on the Copyfish alternative page.

Ways to copy text from a picture at a glance

When a full page needs to come out as a Word file

Copy and paste is built for a line or a paragraph. Paste a table and the rows run together. Paste a letter and you rebuild the headings by hand. For those, the LoreAI app reads the whole document, every page of a PDF, JPG or PNG, and returns an editable Word file with headings, lists and tables in the original order. It reads handwriting, stamps and seals too.

If the page is in another language, the app can translate it into one of 105 languages in the same step. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages. For a single picture into Word, see the photo to Word converter.

Questions people ask