How to Copy Text From an Image (Free OCR)

Quick answer: open Image to Text, choose your photo, pick the language and tap Extract text. Copy the result and paste it anywhere.

Step by step

1. Open the Image to Text tool.
2. Choose a photo, screenshot or scan.
3. Select the language in the image: English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic or English + Urdu.
4. Tap Extract text. The first time takes longer because the language data downloads once.
5. Check the text, fix any mistakes and tap Copy text.

Get better results

• Use a sharp, straight, well-lit photo. Avoid shadows and glare.
• Crop the image to the text first with the Image Cropper.
• Make small images larger with the Image Resizer.
• Printed text works far better than handwriting.
• Pick the right language. For a page with both English and Urdu, use English + Urdu.

Is it private?

Yes. The text is read inside your browser, so your image is never uploaded to a server.

Convert the result

Paste the text into the Word Counter to count words, or turn a scanned PDF page into an image first with PDF to JPG and then extract the text. To make a Word file, see PDF to Word.

Limits

OCR can make mistakes with blurry photos, small print, unusual fonts and handwriting, so always proofread important text.