How to Get Text Out of a Photo on iPhone
You can't select or search the words in photos of documents, signs or whiteboards. Drop the image below and OCR (optical character recognition) converts it into editable text right on your iPhone.
Drop images or screenshots here
PNG, JPG, WebP, HEIC… or paste with Ctrl+V / ⌘V · nothing is uploaded
Text is read on your device. Your images are never uploaded.
The steps: Get Text Out of a Photo on iPhone
- 1
Open this page in Safari (or Chrome) on your iPhone or iPad.
- 2
Tap the box above, then choose Photo Library to pick from Photos, or Choose File to browse the Files app (iCloud Drive, On My iPhone, Downloads).
- 3
Choose the text's language if it isn't English (on a computer you can paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V or ⌘V too), and the text shows up in a few seconds.
- 4
Copy the text, or save it as a .txt file.
Tips for accurate text
- Sharp, straight-on images with dark text on a pale background give the best results. Crop away anything that isn't text.
- Screenshots tend to come out nearly perfect because the lettering is crisp. Photos of paper do well when they're in focus and evenly lit.
- Handwriting is unpredictable – tidy capitals work far better than cursive.
iPhone tips
- For a quick copy, iOS Live Text (press and hold on text in a photo) is handy. This tool is better for long passages, other languages or a .txt you can download.
- The first time you pick a language, a few MB of recognition data is downloaded. Your image itself is never sent.
Questions & answers
What languages can it read?
English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Swedish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and others – choose one from the language menu.
Will it read handwriting?
Occasionally. It's designed for printed text; tidy handwriting may work, but cursive usually won't.
Do my images get sent anywhere?
No. Your browser does the conversion with your device's own processor, so your images stay with you. Once the page has loaded you could even switch off your internet connection.
Need more options? Open the full Image to Text (OCR) tool →