How-to
How to Extract Text from an Image (Free, Private, in Seconds)
Editorial Team · · Updated
Need the words from a picture? Maybe it's a receipt for your expenses, a quote from a book, a table in a screenshot or a page of notes. Retyping takes ages and invites mistakes. With an image to text converter, it takes a few seconds.
The quick way (any device)
- Open the free image to text converter.
- Upload your image, drag it onto the page, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on Mac).
- Wait a few seconds. The first time, your browser downloads the recognition engine once.
- Check the text, fix anything that's wrong, then press Copy or Download .txt.
Try the free Image to Text Converter tool
Open tool →Which tool for which image?
- Screenshot of an app, chat or web page: use screenshot to text and paste it straight in.
- Photo of a document, receipt or book page: use photo to text. Tilted and upside-down photos are fixed automatically.
- Image file saved on your computer: use JPG to text, PNG to text or WEBP to text.
- Hindi or Marathi text: use Hindi image to text.
Why privacy matters when you convert images
Images you want to convert are often personal: bank receipts, invoices, ID cards, medical notes, private chats. Most online converters upload them to a server to do the recognition. This tool doesn't. The text is extracted inside your browser, so your image never leaves your phone or computer.
Getting the best result
OCR is very accurate on sharp, well-lit images and less so on blurry ones. Fill the frame with the text, keep the camera parallel to the page, and avoid shadows and glare. Faded text is boosted automatically (for Hindi and Marathi, tick Enhanced). Our article on improving OCR accuracy explains each tip in detail.
What to do with the text
Once extracted, the text is ordinary text: paste it into Word, Google Docs, Excel, an email, a WhatsApp message or a notes app. Tables come out row by row, so amounts stay next to their labels. Always double-check names, numbers and amounts before you rely on them, because no OCR tool is perfect.
Related tools
Image to Text Converter
Extract text from any image in seconds: photos, screenshots, scans, receipts and handwritten notes. Free, accurate and private, because your images are processed on your own device and never uploaded.
Screenshot to Text
Paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V and copy the text in seconds. Works with chats, apps, websites, slides, videos and error messages, in light or dark mode. Free, and nothing is uploaded.
Photo to Text Converter
Convert a photo or picture into editable text: documents, receipts, book pages, signs and notes taken with your phone camera. Tilted and upside-down photos are fixed automatically. Free and private.