How to Copy Text from Images Using Snipping Tool on Windows 11

With the latest update, Windows 11’s Snipping Tool now includes Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities, allowing you to effortlessly extract text from any image. Whether you’re dealing with a screenshot of a website, a scanned document, a photo of an old newspaper, or a still from a video, the Snipping Tool can recognize and copy text directly from images.

Here’s how to use the Snipping Tool on Windows 11 to extract and copy text from images.

Extracting and copying text from a picture using the Snipping Tool

Note that the ‘Text Actions’ feature is available in Snipping Tool version 11.2308.33.0 or later. To access this feature, ensure that your Snipping Tool is updated to the latest version. You can refer to our guide on how to update Microsoft Apps on Windows 11 to update the Snipping Tool.

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To extract and copy text from an image, you can either take a new screenshot using the Snipping Tool or open an existing image with the Snipping Tool app.

To capture a screenshot with the Snipping Tool, open the app and click the ‘+’ button or press Windows+Shift+S. Choose your preferred snipping mode—Rectangle, Window, Full Screen, or Freeform—and capture the desired area.

Alternatively, to open an existing image with the Snipping Tool, right-click on the image file you wish to extract text from, hover over ‘Open with’, and select ‘Snipping Tool’.

Once the image is open in the Snipping Tool, click on the ‘Text actions’ button (represented by a rounded square icon with three lines) located on the toolbar.

The tool will analyze your image and highlight any recognized text in white.

You have the option to copy all the text or select a specific portion:

Copy all text: Click on ‘Copy all text’ to copy everything the tool has recognized in the image.
Copy specific text: If you wish to copy only a specific section, highlight the desired text (it will appear in blue), then right-click and select ‘Copy text’ or press Ctrl+C.

Paste the copied text into a word processor or text editor. As shown below, the tool accurately extracts text from a Latvian book page, demonstrating its capability to recognize text in various languages.

Zoom in and extract unrecognizable text

Sometimes, the Snipping Tool may have difficulty extracting text if it’s too small or unclear. For example, it might struggle with text in a collection of newspaper clippings due to the small font size.

If you encounter this issue, here’s a workaround to help you extract the text:

Open the image in a photo viewer application like Microsoft Photos. If the image is a screenshot, save it to your computer first.

Zoom in on the section of the image containing the text you wish to extract.

Press Windows+Shift+S to open the Snipping Tool’s capture options, and select your preferred snipping mode.

Capture the zoomed-in area by drawing around it.

Once captured, the image will open in the Snipping Tool. Use the ‘Text actions’ feature to extract the text from this zoomed-in area. The tool should now be able to recognize and copy the text that was previously unrecognizable due to the small size.

Checking ‘Text Actions’ accuracy

While the Snipping Tool’s text extraction feature is quite effective, it may occasionally produce errors, such as misspellings or incorrect words, especially if the text is obscured or unclear.

For instance, in the image below, some words are obscured by ink smudges, making them difficult to recognize accurately. Let’s extract the text from this image and assess its accuracy.

As shown below, the tool extracts the text but with several spelling errors.

You can use spelling and grammar checking tools, such as Grammarly, to correct these mistakes. Additionally, manually comparing the extracted text with the original image can help you identify and fix any remaining errors.

Redacting text in the Snipping Tool

Beyond text extraction, the ‘Text Actions’ feature also allows you to redact sensitive information in images, such as email addresses and phone numbers. Here’s how to use this functionality:

Open an image with the Snipping Tool or capture a screenshot using it.

Click on the ‘Text actions’ button on the toolbar.

By default, the tool redacts phone numbers and email addresses. If you prefer not to redact certain types of information, click the arrow next to ‘Quick redact’ and uncheck the options you don’t want to redact.

Click on ‘Quick redact’ to censor the selected types of information in your image.

All phone numbers and email addresses will be redacted in the image.

If the tool redacts text you want to keep or misses text you wish to redact, you can manually select the text, right-click on it, and choose ‘Redact text’.

To remove all redactions from the image, click the arrow next to ‘Quick redact’ and select ‘Remove all redactions’. Note that you cannot undo individual redactions.

The new OCR capabilities in the Snipping Tool provide a convenient way to extract text from images with impressive accuracy and to redact sensitive information when needed.