Screenshot to Text
Got the text only as a screenshot? Upload it and get the words back as text you can paste into a search box, a spreadsheet or a support ticket. Line breaks and columns are kept, so a stack trace or a table stays readable.
Image to Text
or drop PDF, JPG, JPEG … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
For pages that mix two languages, e.g. Hindi with English words. Leave on none otherwise; an extra language slightly lowers accuracy.
Preserve keeps columns, paragraphs and tables where they were. Plain outputs one continuous block of text, easier to paste into forms.
PDF and multi-page TIFF input: read every page, only the first, or a range.
Pages to read, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the screenshots
Add up to 20 screenshots from your phone or computer, each up to 95 MB. PNG and JPG are both fine.
- 2
Keep the layout
Text layout is on Preserve layout, which keeps line breaks and columns. Switch to Plain text flow if you only want running sentences.
- 3
Recognize text
Press Recognize text and download a .txt per screenshot, or switch Output to Word (.docx) first for formatted text.
How do I get the text out of a screenshot?
Upload the screenshot here and press Recognize text. The words are read with OCR and saved as a .txt you can copy from. Screenshots are the cleanest input OCR gets, so expect very few mistakes unless the text is tiny.
Copy text from a screenshot: errors, tables and chats
A crash dialog, a build log in a colleague's screenshot or an error on a TV or kiosk you photographed. Preserve layout keeps each log line on its own line, so stack traces stay in order.
- Code fonts make 0/O and 1/l/I easy to swap; check them
- Underscores and backticks can drop out at small sizes
- Zoom the window before capturing long single lines
Analytics panels, admin screens and reports that do not offer an export. Columns come back aligned with spaces, one row per line.
- Capture the table at full width, not cut at the edge
- Headers on two lines may merge with the first row
- Totals in colored cells may need Enhance contrast
Group chats, support conversations and DMs you need to quote in a report or keep as text. Each bubble is read as its own block, top to bottom.
- Overlap screenshots slightly so no message is cut
- Emoji and stickers are skipped
- Check names that use unusual spellings
Screenshot to text on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
Every major system now has a way to copy text from a single image, and for one line from one screenshot they are the fastest choice. They fall short when you have a folder of screenshots, need the text in a file rather than on the clipboard, want to keep a table's columns, or the text is in a language your device does not recognize. That is the job of this page: up to 20 screenshots per batch, 34 languages and a .txt, Word, Markdown or searchable PDF result.
Screenshots are already sharp and level, so the photo fixes are off here: Straighten pages and Enhance contrast are switched off to avoid touching text that is already perfect. Auto rotate stays on for landscape screenshots from a phone held sideways. For PNG files from other sources, such as exports and mockups, PNG to text explains what affects the result.
| Device | Take a screenshot | Copy text on the device | Saved as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 | Win + Shift + S | Text Actions in Snipping Tool; PowerToys Text Extractor (Win + Shift + T) | PNG |
| Mac | Cmd + Shift + 4 (area), Cmd + Shift + 3 (screen) | Live Text in Preview and Photos, macOS 12 Monterey or later | PNG |
| iPhone and iPad | Side button + volume up (Home button models: side or top button + Home) | Live Text in Photos, iOS 15 or later | PNG |
| Android | Power + volume down | Google Lens in Google Photos | PNG on most phones; some makers use JPG |
| Chromebook | Ctrl + Show windows | Google Lens in Chrome, with the image open in a tab | PNG |
TipBefore you capture small text, press Ctrl and + (Cmd and + on a Mac) a few times. Twice-as-large letters on screen cut misreads more than any setting here.
Screenshot to text questions
How do I copy an error message out of a screenshot to search for it?
Upload the screenshot, copy the key line from the .txt and search it in quotes. Leave out file paths, user names and long hex numbers, which are unique to your machine and narrow the search to nothing. Check characters that look alike in code fonts, such as 0 and O or l and 1, before you paste.
Can a screenshot of a table become columns I can sort?
In a .txt the columns are kept as aligned text, which pastes into a spreadsheet as one column per line. For real cells you can sort and sum, use image to Excel, which rebuilds the grid in a spreadsheet.
Will names and timestamps in a chat screenshot stay in order?
Messages come out top to bottom as they appear. Bubbles on the left and right are read as separate blocks, so a sender's name or a time stamp can land on its own line. Reactions, emoji and stickers are images and are skipped.
Can I capture a whole long conversation or web page?
Take a scrolling screenshot, which Android has offered since Android 12, or several overlapping screenshots, and upload them together. On iPhone, the Full Page option for Safari screenshots saves a PDF, which this tool also reads page by page.
Should I hide personal details before uploading a screenshot?
It is good practice. Crop out account numbers, email addresses and faces you do not need, using your phone's photo editor. Uploaded files and results are deleted 30 minutes after processing; the privacy policy has the details.
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- Image to Word ConverterConvert screenshots, scans and photos to an editable Word document. Reads 34 languages, mixed-language pages and neat handwriting. Free, no sign-up.
- Image to DOCX ConverterConvert images to DOCX, including a stack of page photos or a multi-page scan into one Word file. Headings, lists and tables rebuilt for editing. Free.
- PNG to Excel: Table Screenshot to SpreadsheetConvert a PNG screenshot of a table from a website, dashboard or app into an Excel sheet with real rows, columns and numeric cells. No retyping.