Summary
- Microsoft adds text extractor feature to Snipping Tool in Windows 11.
- Users can scan regions for text, manually select or copy all text, and explore additional options.
- Available in Dev and Canary channels, providing easier access to text extraction on Windows machines.
I never really knew just how good text extractors were until I started using them. No longer did I have to manually type out everything in a picture; now I can just use the eextractor to grab what I want and paste it whenever it needs to go. So, imagine my happiness when I saw that Microsoft added a new text extractor feature to the Snipping Tool, meaning that not only is text extraction easier to access than ever before, but all Windows machines come with one pre-installed as a result.
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In a post on the Windows Insider Blog, the Snipping Tool got an update on the Dev and Beta branches. Now you can grab text from an image like a pro:
Select the region you would like to scan for text (just as you would for standard rectangle snip), and you will be able to manually select the text to copy to clipboard, or you can click on the “Copy all text” button in the toolbar to quickly copy all text in the region. You can also explore the “More options” dropdown menu to “Remove line breaks” from copied text or simplify the experience entirely with the “Automatically copy text” selection, which will dismiss Snipping Tool earlier and automatically copy all text in your selection region directly to your clipboard.
If you want to give it a shot, just open the Snipping Tool and click the new “Text Extractor” button. You can then highlight some text and grab it like you would any other text. However, you do need to be on the Dev or Canary channel of Windows 11, so either sign up for those or hold out for a general release.
If you don’t want to wait that long, why not check out PowerToys? The suite of tools added text extraction a long time ago, so power users have already been using this tech on Windows for years now. If you want to learn more, check out when our editor, Adam Conway, finally became a PowerToys convert years after he should have. The text extractor tool was one of the many reasons.
