Ever had text stuck inside a picture — a photo of a document, a screenshot of an error, a receipt, a PDF that won't let you select anything — and had to retype the whole thing? You don't have to. Windows 11 can read the text out of any image for you, and it's built right into the Snipping Tool that's already on your PC.
It follows the Tech Tips With Adam video step by step. The whole thing takes about a minute once you've done it once.
What you need
- Windows 11. The text feature is in the Snipping Tool on Windows 11 (version 22H2 or newer). It's free and already installed.
- The latest Snipping Tool. If you don't see Text actions, update the app from the Microsoft Store — see Troubleshooting below.
- Anything with text in it on your screen: a photo, a screenshot, a website, a PDF, a video frame — it all works.
01Open the Snipping Tool
Press Win + Shift + S. The screen dims and a little toolbar appears at the top — that's the Snipping Tool ready to grab part of your screen.
02Snip the text
Click and drag a box around the part of the screen that has the words you want. Let go, and Windows grabs that area. A small preview pops up in the bottom-right corner.
03Click Text actions
Click that preview to open your snip in the Snipping Tool. Along the toolbar you'll see Text actions (it looks like a little page with letters on it). Click it, and Windows scans the image and highlights every word it can read.
04Copy the text
- To grab everything, click Copy all text.
- To grab only part of it, drag to select just those words, then right-click and Copy — exactly like selecting text in a document.
- Pulling text out of a table? Use Copy as table so the rows and columns stay lined up when you paste into a spreadsheet.
05Paste it anywhere
Click wherever you want the text and press Ctrl + V. An email, a Word document, a text message, a search box — the words drop straight in as normal, editable text. That's the whole trick.
06Bonus: hide private info before you share
Sending someone a screenshot but there's an email address or phone number in it you'd rather not share? In the same Text actions view, click Quick redact and the Snipping Tool blacks out emails and phone numbers for you automatically.
07When this is handy
- Error messages. Copy the exact wording to search for it or send it to us — no typos.
- Receipts and invoices. Pull the numbers off a photo without re-keying them.
- Locked PDFs. When a PDF won't let you select text, screenshot it and copy the text out instead.
- Photos of documents. A snap of a letter, a form, a whiteboard or a slide — turn it into text you can edit.
- Anything on screen. Video captions, images on a website, a menu — if you can see the words, you can copy them.
?Troubleshooting
I don't see "Text actions"
Your Snipping Tool needs updating. Open the Microsoft Store, search Snipping Tool, and click Update. Then reopen it and try again.
I'm on Windows 10
This feature is a Windows 11 one. On Windows 10 you can use PowerToys Text Extractor (a free Microsoft tool) instead — give us a call if you'd like a hand setting it up.
Some words came out wrong
It reads clear, printed text almost perfectly. Blurry photos, fancy fonts and handwriting are harder — snip as close and as sharp as you can for the best result.
Nothing happens when I press Win + Shift + S
Open the Snipping Tool from the Start menu instead and click New. If the shortcut still won't work, it may be turned off in Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard.
Want your whole setup running this smoothly?
AYVAtech does home and small business IT across Penrith & Western Sydney.
Built-in Snipping Tool text actions need Windows 11 (22H2 or newer) with the Snipping Tool up to date. The feature reads text on your PC — nothing is uploaded.