If you have a screenshot of a Zoom meeting, an image of an error code, or a scanned document, you cannot easily copy and paste the text locked inside the image. Historically, Windows users had to rely on third-party Optical Character Recognition (OCR) websites or complex software like Adobe Acrobat to extract this text. However, Microsoft recently added powerful, native OCR capabilities directly into the Windows 11 Snipping Tool.
How to Extract Text Using Text Actions
The Snipping Tool can now analyse any screenshot you take and instantly make the text selectable and copyable.
- Press the Windows Key + Shift + S to activate the Snipping Tool.
- Click and drag your mouse to capture a screenshot of the image, document, or error message containing the text you want to extract.
- A notification will appear in the bottom right corner of your screen. Click it to open the screenshot in the main Snipping Tool editor.
- In the toolbar at the top of the window, click the Text Actions button (it looks like a square with a cursor selecting lines of text).
- The tool will quickly scan the image. After a few seconds, all the text in the image will be highlighted.
Copying and Redacting Information
Once the tool has identified the text, you have a few options:
- Copy all text: You can click the Copy all text button in the toolbar to instantly send everything to your clipboard. You can then paste it into Notepad, Word, or an email.
- Copy specific text: You can use your mouse to highlight specific sentences or paragraphs directly on the image, right-click, and select Copy text.
- Quick Redact: This is an incredibly useful security feature. If the screenshot contains sensitive information (like phone numbers, email addresses, or social security numbers), you can click the Quick Redact button. The Snipping Tool will automatically find and black out this sensitive data before you share the image!