Forget OCR Tools: Windows 11’s Photos App Now Lets You Copy Text from Images

Nov. 21, 2024

While the latestWindows 11 24H2 updatebrings many new features, most of them are exclusive to Copilot+ PCs. However, Microsoft keeps adding quality-of-life improvements to its first-party apps and that improves the overall experience. Now, the official Photos app on Windows 11 can seamlessly copy text from images. Yes, now it comes with built-in OCR text detection.

Now, open an image with text in it and you will be able to copy the text effortlessly. You can also click on “Copy all text” at the bottom to extract the entire text from the image. Earlier, I was usingPowerToys’ Text Extractorto copy text from images on Windows 11. The Snipping Tool also allows users toextract text from screenshots, but it’s a hassle to use.

With built-in support in the Photos app, I no longer have to rely on other tools. In case, for some reason, it doesn’t work on your PC, you can try Albacore’s workaroundhere. So are you looking forward to trying out text extraction from images on Windows 11? Let us know in the comments below.

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