How to convert images to text with free Snipping Tools on Windows

Converting images to text on Snipping Tool helps you save a lot of time and money when current OCR tools are relatively expensive. So how to convert images to text directly on Windows without installing software?

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I. Windows 11 officially supports OCR

OCR - Optical character recognition feature has officially appeared on Windows 11 to serve the office needs of many people. Previously, people had to buy OCR tools from many different vendors to quickly convert images to text. But now, Windows 11 has built-in OCR, so you can freely use it without paying.

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The official Windows version 22H2 brings an integrated OCR tool into the Snipping Tool application. Users can now use the Snipping Tool, capture images that need to be converted into text and let the system process them automatically.

The latest version of Snipping Tool provides an OCR tool to convert images into text, supports quick text editing, and supports covering Phone Numbers/Emails when converting images into text. The OCR feature integrated in Snipping Tool will be named 'Text Actions' and is 100% free for users.

To use Snipping Tool – OCR, you need to update Snipping Tool to the latest version via Microsoft Store.

II. Instructions for updating Snipping Tool to the latest version

The latest version of Snipping Tool is shared by Microsoft developer on the free store. Normally, you just need to access and update to be able to use the latest version.

Step 1 : Open Start and enter Microsoft Store to open the app store on your computer.

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Step 2 : Then, select Library to view the applications installed on your Windows computer and update.

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Step 3 : Select Get updates to have the system search for software with new updated versions and install it automatically on your Windows computer.

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III. How to convert images to text in Snipping Tool

Once you have updated the Snipping Tool application to the latest version, open the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot of the text that needs to be converted. The steps to convert images to text in Snipping Tool are as follows:

1. Convert image to text in Snipping Tool

Step 1 : Open Start , enter Snipping Tool to open (or press Windows + Shift + S).

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Step 2 : Then, select New to create an image capture area containing text.

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Step 3 : Once you have captured the text that needs OCR conversion, select the Text Actions tool on the toolbar.

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Step 4 : The system will automatically use OCR optical character recognition to recognize text, letters, and characters in the image.

Now, select Copy all text to copy the converted text and paste it into another tool (Word, Notepad, Excel.) for use.

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In case you only need to copy a sentence or a paragraph in the entire scanned OCR content, you just need to highlight that text and press Ctrl + C to copy.

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2. Delete Email address and phone number after converting images to text

Snipping Tool provides users with quick editing tools, supporting covering the content of phone numbers and email addresses directly after the conversion process. If you do not want to reveal information, select this tool to mask the information before copying and pasting text into another application.

Step 1 : Take an image containing email address and phone number .

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Step 2 : After Text Actions is finished working, select Quick redact to automatically hide phone numbers and mail addresses.

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Step 3 : Quick redact feature extension gives you features like.

1. Email addresses : Hide and blur email addresses
2. Phone numbers : Cover, blur phone numbers
3. Remove all redactions : Remove hidden phone numbers and emails

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In this article, TipsMake has shared with you how to convert images into text using Snipping Tool completely free. Have a nice day!

Kareem Winters

Update 09 April 2024