Imagine my delight, therefore, when I discovered that Microsoft has enhanced the Snipping Tool with a new text extractor capability. This means that not only is text extraction now more accessible than ever, but it is now pre-installed on all Windows computers.
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:
Simply click the new "Text Extractor" button in the Snipping Tool to give it a try. Then, you can grab the highlighted text just like you would any other text. You must, however, be on the Dev or Canary channel of Windows 11, so wait for a general release or join up for them.
Why not look into PowerToys if you don't want to wait that long? Power users have been utilizing this technology on Windows for years because the set of tools included text extraction a long time ago. See how our editor, Adam Conway, eventually converted to PowerToys years after he ought to have if you're interested in learning more. One of the several explanations was the text extraction tool.
