Windows 11 Will Let You Copy Any Text on Your Screen

Microsoft is rolling retired a substance extractor instrumentality to the Snipping Tool successful Windows 11, giving you different mode to extract substance and information from thing connected your surface with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). It’s akin to the functionality already disposable connected astir Android, iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.

Microsoft announced successful a blog station that Snipping Tool mentation 11.2503.27.0 is present rolling retired to Windows Insiders successful the Canary and Dev channels. The caller update adds a substance extractor fastener to the Snipping Tool seizure bar, which appears erstwhile you usage the Win+Shift+S keyboard shortcut oregon unfastened Snipping Tool from the Start menu.

When you click the caller substance extractor button, you tin prime the portion you privation to scan for text, conscionable similar capturing a regular screenshot. After that, you tin prime the scanned substance arsenic if it was a regular document, oregon you tin click the ‘Copy each text’ fastener to determination it each to your strategy clipboard. There’s besides an enactment to region enactment breaks from the copied text.

You tin usage this diagnostic to prime substance from applications, games, photos, and different objects connected your surface that don’t usually enactment substance selection. Best of all, it doesn’t necessitate a fancy caller Copilot+ PC.

This is akin to the OCR diagnostic that was just added to the Photos app successful Windows 11, but with the Snipping Tool integration, you don’t request to seizure and prevention the screenshot earlier selecting text. The Snipping Tool implementation is less clicks, and there’s adjacent an enactment to automatically transcript each substance aft utilizing the button.

This is besides a batch similar the substance enactment features successful different operating systems, though the implementation successful Windows mightiness person the fewest steps required. The photos app connected iPhone and iPad devices tin prime substance from immoderate image, including screenshots, and Mac computers person a akin enactment with screenshots opened successful the Preview app. Google Pixel devices tin pat the ‘Select’ fastener connected the Recents surface to transcript substance from an application, without taking a screenshot, and immoderate different Android phones and tablets person akin options.

In the blog post, Microsoft explained you tin “select the portion you would similar to scan for substance (just arsenic you would for modular rectangle snip), and you volition beryllium capable to manually prime the substance to transcript to clipboard, oregon you tin click connected the ‘Copy each text’ fastener successful the toolbar to rapidly transcript each substance successful the region. You tin besides research the ‘More options’ dropdown paper to ‘Remove enactment breaks’ from copied substance oregon simplify the acquisition wholly with the ‘Automatically transcript text’ selection, which volition disregard Snipping Tool earlier and automatically transcript each substance successful your enactment portion straight to your clipboard.”

This diagnostic is rolling retired present successful Snipping Tool mentation 11.2503.27.0, disposable to Windows Insiders successful the Canary and Dev channels of Windows 11. It should rotation retired to each Windows 11 PCs erstwhile the bugs are worked out. This isn’t expected to amusement up connected Windows 10, which volition reach the extremity of mainstream support connected October 14, 2025, and necessitate an yearly subscription work to proceed receiving information patches and bug fixes.

Source: Windows Insider Blog