How to Automatically Extract Text from Images in Excel Using Data from Picture

Manually typing data from a printed report, a screenshot of a webpage, or a photo of a financial statement into an Excel spreadsheet is incredibly tedious and prone to human error. Fortunately, modern versions of Microsoft Excel include a powerful Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature called “Data from Picture.” This tool allows you to upload an image and have Excel automatically extract the text and arrange it neatly into cells.

Requirements for Using Data from Picture

Before proceeding, ensure you have a compatible version of Excel. The “Data from Picture” feature is currently available to Microsoft 365 subscribers on Windows and macOS. It is not available in older standalone versions like Excel 2016 or 2019. You must also have an active internet connection, as the OCR processing relies on Microsoft’s cloud servers to analyze the image.

How to Extract Data from an Image File

If you have already saved a photograph or screenshot to your computer, you can import it directly into your workbook.

1. Open your Microsoft Excel workbook and select the specific cell where you want the top-left corner of the extracted data to begin.
2. Navigate to the Data tab located on the top ribbon.
3. In the “Get & Transform Data” group, click on the From Picture button.
4. Select Picture From File… from the dropdown menu.
5. A file explorer window will open. Locate and select the image containing your table or text (supported formats include JPG, PNG, and BMP), then click Insert.
6. Excel will display a sidebar on the right side of the screen analyzing the image.

Reviewing and Correcting the Extracted Data

OCR technology is highly advanced, but it is rarely perfect, especially if the source image is blurry, has poor lighting, or contains unusual fonts. Excel forces you to review the data before inserting it.

1. In the right-hand sidebar, you will see a preview of the extracted table. Excel highlights fields it is unsure about in red.
2. Click the Review button.
3. Excel will zoom in on the source image for each flagged cell and ask you to confirm or correct the text in a small text box.
4. Type any necessary corrections and click Accept to move to the next flagged item.
5. Once you have reviewed all the items, click the Insert Data button at the bottom of the sidebar.
6. Click Insert Data again on the final warning prompt.

The text and numbers will immediately populate the cells in your worksheet, formatted as a standard grid.

Extracting Data directly from the Clipboard

If you are extracting data from a digital source, such as a PDF or a website, you do not need to save the image to your hard drive first.

1. Use your operating system’s screenshot tool (e.g., the Snipping Tool on Windows or Cmd+Shift+4 on Mac) to capture the table you want to extract. This saves the image to your clipboard.
2. Return to Excel and select your starting cell.
3. Go to the Data tab, click From Picture, and select Picture From Clipboard.

The review process will begin immediately, saving you the extra steps of saving and locating a file. By leveraging this feature, you can digitize hardcopy data in seconds rather than hours.