Image to text (OCR)
Drop a photo, a scan or a screenshot and get its text, ready to copy, read on your own device.
Sealed on this device
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Sealed
Your image
How it works
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Add your image
Drop a photo, scan or screenshot, pick it from your device, or paste it with Ctrl+V.
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Let it read
The text is read straight away in the language you chose. Change the language or the options, then select Read again if needed.
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Copy or save the text
Fix any mistakes right in the text box, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
Frequently asked questions
Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. The text recognition runs in your browser, on your device. Only the recognition data for your language is downloaded from our site, once; your image never leaves your device.
Which images work best?
Sharp, straight images of printed or on-screen text, with good light and contrast. Screenshots, scans and photos of documents usually read very well. Handwriting, very stylized fonts and text over busy pictures give more mistakes.
Which languages can it read?
The 20 languages of this site, including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Thai. Choose the main language of the text: letters that don’t belong to it may be misread.
Can I paste a screenshot?
Yes. Take a screenshot, then press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac) on this page, outside the text box. A new image replaces the previous one.
Why does the first reading take longer?
The first time, your browser downloads the text recognition and the data for your language, a few megabytes. They are kept afterwards, so the next readings start much faster.
What about a PDF or a scanned document?
For a PDF, use our OCR PDF tool: it reads every page and gives you a searchable PDF, plus its text.