Is there a file size limit for OCR?

There is no hard limit enforced, but very large images over 20 MB may be slow since processing happens in the browser. Most screenshots are under 5 MB and process in 2–4 seconds.

Does the screenshot get uploaded to a server?

No. All OCR processing runs in your browser using Tesseract 5 compiled to WebAssembly. Your screenshot never leaves your device.

How to Extract Text from a Screenshot (Free, No App Required)

You've got a screenshot of an email, a PDF scan, a recipe, a code snippet, or a menu — and you need the actual text out of it. Retyping it manually is slow and error-prone.

This guide shows you how to extract text from a screenshot in seconds, for free, without installing anything or creating an account.

What Is OCR?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is technology that analyzes an image and identifies the characters in it. What was once a slow server-side process requiring expensive software now runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — meaning your image never has to leave your device.

Step-by-Step: Extract Text from a Screenshot

Step 1 — Take or prepare your screenshot

Make sure the text in the image is:

In focus — blurry images reduce accuracy significantly
High contrast — dark text on a light background works best
Not too small — text under ~10px tall may not be recognized reliably

If your screenshot is from a phone, use the native screenshot function (Power + Volume down on Android; Power + Side button on iOS) and share it to your desktop if needed.

Step 2 — Go to the OCR tool

Open screenshot-to.com/screenshot-to-text in any modern browser. No account or login required.

Step 3 — Drop or select your image

Drag your screenshot into the upload area, or click to browse. Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP.

The tool accepts files up to 20 MB. For most screenshots this is more than enough — a typical 1080p screenshot is around 500 KB.

Step 4 — Wait for recognition (usually under 5 seconds)

The OCR engine (Tesseract.js, running in WebAssembly directly in your browser) processes the image on your device. You'll see a progress bar as it:

Loads the language data
Preprocesses the image (grayscale + contrast normalization)
Recognizes text

Step 5 — Copy the extracted text

Once done, the recognized text appears in a text area. Click Copy to put it on your clipboard, or Download .txt to save it as a file.

Tips for Better OCR Accuracy

Tip	Why it helps
Use PNG instead of JPEG	PNG is lossless; JPEG compression introduces artifacts that confuse OCR
Crop tightly around the text	Less background noise = fewer false positives
Avoid screenshots of screenshots	Each generation adds blur and compression noise
Use high-DPI / Retina captures	More pixels per character = better recognition

What About Handwriting?

Standard Tesseract-based OCR (what most free browser tools use) is optimized for printed text. Handwriting recognition is a different, harder problem that typically requires specialized AI models. For printed content — typed documents, screenshots of apps, PDFs rendered to images — accuracy is excellent.

Privacy: What Happens to My Image?

When you use screenshot-to.com, your image never leaves your device. The OCR engine runs entirely in WebAssembly inside your browser tab. There is no server receiving your screenshot, no account storing your history, and no data retained after you close the tab.

This makes it safe for sensitive content: screenshots of bank statements, passwords, medical records, or confidential work documents.

Alternatives

If browser-based OCR doesn't meet your needs, here are the main alternatives:

Google Lens (mobile): Tap and hold an image on Android, select "Search with Google Lens." Excellent accuracy but sends images to Google servers.
macOS Live Text (macOS 12+): Hover over an image in Preview and click the text. No upload, but macOS only.
Windows Snipping Tool (Windows 11 22H2+): Has built-in text extraction. Works offline, Windows only.
Tesseract CLI: Free, open-source, runs locally. Requires command-line setup.

For cross-platform use with no installation, browser-based tools are the most accessible option.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it work with non-English text? The current tool is optimized for English. Multi-language support is on the roadmap.

What file size limit applies? Files up to 20 MB are supported. Processing happens entirely client-side — larger files may be slower on low-end devices.

Can I extract text from a photo of a physical document? Yes, as long as the document is well-lit and the camera is straight-on (not at an angle). Perspective distortion significantly reduces accuracy.

Is there an API? Not yet. An API for batch OCR is planned for a future release.