Turn words in a picture into real text
Text inside a photo or screenshot can't be selected, searched or edited: to your phone it is just coloured dots. This page runs OCR (optical character recognition) on your image to read the letters and give them back as plain text that you can copy into a message, a document or a translator. It works with JPG, PNG and WebP pictures such as photos of notices, book pages, receipts, whiteboards and screenshots, and also with scanned PDFs. You can choose up to three languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Hindi and Arabic. The recognition runs inside your browser, so your picture is never uploaded.
Updated September 2026
How to convert an image to text
- 1Tap Select image and choose a photo or screenshot with text in it.
- 2Pick the language of the text (up to three if it is mixed).
- 3Press Read text. The first time, the language data is downloaded, so later runs are quicker.
- 4Fix any misread letters right in the text box, then copy it or download it as a .txt file.
Take a picture the OCR can read
- Hold the phone straight above the page, so lines of text are level.
- Use daylight or a bright lamp and avoid your own shadow on the page.
- Fill the frame with the text; crop away the background with Crop Image if needed.
- Tap to focus before taking the photo, and keep your hand still.
- For glossy paper, tilt the page slightly so the light doesn't shine back.
Good uses for image to text
- Copying a notice, timetable or recipe from a photo instead of typing it out.
- Pulling a paragraph from a book page to quote in homework.
- Getting the text of a screenshot so you can search or translate it.
- Turning a photographed letter or form into editable text.
After you have the text
OCR gives you raw text, so a quick tidy-up helps. Remove Line Breaks joins lines that were cut at the edge of the photo into proper paragraphs, and the Word Counter shows how long the text is. If you have many pages to read, combine the photos into one file with JPG to PDF and run them through in one go.
Features
- Works with photos, screenshots and scans
- JPG, PNG, WebP and scanned PDF files
- 8 languages, up to 3 at once
- Copy the text or save a .txt file
- Edit the recognised text before copying
- The image never leaves your device
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is image to text?
For a sharp, straight photo of printed text in good light, most words come out right. Accuracy drops with blurry or tilted photos, very small print, decorative fonts, text over busy pictures and handwriting. Always read the result through before using it.
Can it read handwriting?
Only neat, printed-style handwriting, and not reliably. The recognition engine is trained on printed text, so joined-up or quick handwriting usually gives many mistakes.
Does it keep the layout, like columns and tables?
No. You get plain text in reading order, with line breaks. Tables become lines of words, and bold, colours and pictures are left out.
Can I get text from a screenshot on my phone?
Yes. Screenshots are ideal, because the text is already sharp and straight. Choose the screenshot from your gallery, pick the language and press Read text. Copy the result straight into your notes or chat.
Which languages can it read?
Eight: Hindi, Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. When one picture mixes two of them, such as a Hindi notice with English words, tick both.
Is my image uploaded anywhere?
No. The OCR engine runs inside your browser on your own device. Only the language data is downloaded from our site the first time, and your picture stays with you.