Screenshot to text: copy every word out of a screen capture

How to convert a screenshot to text with the free tool

1. Choose the screenshot. A PNG or JPG straight from your phone or computer, up to 5 MB. A HEIC or WEBP file works too.
2. Press Get the text. The tool runs OCR on the whole screen capture and shows the text in reading order within seconds. No email, no account.
3. Copy it or download it. Copy everything in one click, or save it as a .txt file or a Word document.

Took two screenshots of the same quiz, article or chat? Run them one after the other and paste the second result under the first. To keep a long set together, join the images into one PDF with the JPG to PDF tool and upload that PDF to the LoreAI app, which reads every page into one Word file.

Why a screenshot reads so cleanly

A screenshot is the easiest image there is for OCR. The text is sharp, perfectly straight and evenly lit, because it was never photographed. That is why a capture of a school portal, a PDF viewer, a slide or a chat comes back word for word, with headings, lists and answer options in the order you see them.

Capture the screen itself rather than a phone photo of a monitor. Zoom in before you take it if the text is tiny, and crop away the menus and side panels you do not need.

How do I copy text from a screenshot on iPhone?

Open the screenshot in Photos, touch and hold a word and drag the grab points over the lines you want, then tap Copy. Tap Select All to take every word in the image[1]. Live Text needs an iPhone XS, iPhone XR or later with iOS 15 or later[1].

More iPhone options, including the Notes scanner, are in the OCR on iPhone guide.

How do I copy text from a screenshot on Android?

Open the Google app and tap Google Lens in the search bar. Under Search with your camera tap Search, then pick the image under Screenshots. Tap the text or drag the corners of the box over it, tap Select text and choose Copy[2]. The same menu offers Translate[2]. The OCR on Android guide covers Samsung's options as well.

How do I extract text from a screenshot on a Mac?

Press Shift-Command-4 and drag over the part of the screen you want. The capture is saved to the desktop as a .png file[4]. Open it in Preview, drag across the text, Control-click the selection and choose Copy Text[5]. If nothing selects, turn on Tools, Text Selection[5]. More on this in the OCR on Mac guide.

How do I copy text from a screenshot on Windows?

Press the Windows logo key, Shift and S to open the Snipping Tool overlay and capture the area[3]. In the snip, select Text actions, then copy the lines you want or use Copy all text[3].

PowerToys adds Text Extractor. Press Windows, Shift and T, drag over any part of the screen and the text lands on your clipboard[6]. It only recognizes languages whose Windows OCR language pack is installed[6]. Setup is on the PowerToys Text Extractor page.

Screenshot OCR options at a glance

Screenshot to Word, with tables and layout

Copying a selection gives you plain lines. A timetable, a grade report or a price list loses its columns the moment you paste it. The Word download from the box above rebuilds tables as real Word tables, keeps headings as headings and numbered questions as a numbered list, so a screenshot of a worksheet opens ready to edit.

For a whole stack of captures, the LoreAI app reads every page of a PDF, JPG or PNG and returns one editable Word file. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages. Pictures on the screen, like a logo or a chart, can go into the file or stay out, as you choose.

Screenshot in another language?

The free tool gives the text back in the language on the screen. To read it in your own language, the LoreAI app translates the screenshot into one of 105 languages and returns a Word file in the same layout. The source language is detected on its own. The screenshot translator guide covers chats, apps and foreign forms.

Questions people ask