Learn how to extract text from an image, PDF, or screen using Microsoft's PowerToys

When Windows 11 was first released, many power users were disappointed with the lack of tools provided by the operating system. Microsoft has been developing PowerToys for a long time as it provides more powerful tools to perform various tasks on PC. Many features and tools have been added to PowerToys over the years, the latest addition being a text extractor. This new advanced tool allows you to copy text from anywhere on the screen, whether it's a blog post, image, website, or even an app. So if you've ever found yourself typing text that you can't copy, Text Extractor is the perfect tool for you. Let’s take a quick look at it and how to use it on your PC.

What is a text extractor and what can it do?

Text Extractor is a new tool in PowerToys that can copy text from anywhere on the screen. Text extractor programs use OCR to recognize text in a selected area and then convert it into recognizable characters for use on your computer. After activating the text extractor, you can select the area on the screen where you want to extract text. When you click and drag to select the area, the text is automatically recognized and copied to the clipboard. You can then paste the text wherever you like.

How to Extract Text from Microsoft on Windows using PowerToys

Now that you are familiar with the text extractor in PowerToys, here’s how to use it on your PC. First, you need to install the relevant OCR language pack for your computer. Once done, you can install PowerToys and use the text extractor as needed.

Step 1: Install OCR Language Pack

Text Extractor uses OCR to recognize text from text selected on the screen. Therefore, you need to install the relevant language pack on your PC so that the text extractor can work as expected. Follow the steps below to help you install the relevant OCR language pack on your computer.

Open Run by pressing your PC. Windows R

#Type the following and press . Ctrl Shift Enter

powershell

##Now use the following command to get the OCR language pack. Replace

[language code] with the relevant code for your language from one of the options below.

$Capability = Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*[Language Code]<strong>*' }</strong>

##LanguageLanguage codeArabic – Saudi ArabiaChinese – Taiwan German – German ##GreekEl-GREnglish – United Statesen-US Spanish – Spain (traditional sorting) ES-ESItalian – ItalyIT-Information Technology日本语Jia-JPKoreanKokerRussianRURUSweden Languagesv-SEUrdu – PakistanYour PKHiHi

ar-SA
zh-TW
德德
	## Seal Idiom
	NOTE: If your language is not listed above, you can find a complete list of all Microsoft language codes at this link. After completion, use the following command to install the package. $Capability | Add-WindowsCapability -Online When completed, you should get output similar to the one below. #Now use the following command to check if the OCR language pack is installed and detected. Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*' } Now you will get a list of language packs and whether they are installed or not. Use the steps above to check for installed language packs. It should read "Installed" next to "Status". Now close PowerShell using the following command. exit That’s it! Now you have installed the relevant OCR language pack on your PC. Step 2: Install PowerToys and use Text Extractor We can now install PowerToys on your PC and use Text Extractor. Please follow the steps below to help you through the process. Visit this link to the PowerToys GitHub release page. Scroll down and click PowerToysUserSetup-0.71.0-x64.exe to download it to your PC. If you have an ARM-based computer, click and download the relevant executable file. Additionally, if you wish to use a portable copy of PowerToys, you can download the .ZIP file. #After initiating the download, save the settings to a convenient location on your PC. Double click and launch the installer after downloading n. Now you will see the license agreement for PowerToys. Select the I agree to the license terms and agreement checkbox. Click on options. Click "Browse" to select the location where you want to install PowerToys. Select your preferred location and click OK. Click "OK" again. Now click "Install" to install PowerToys. PowerToys will now be installed on your PC. When finished, click Close. Now, press the Windows key on your keyboard to open the Start menu and search for PowerToys. Click and launch the app after it appears in search results. PowerToys has tons of tools and options for customization. You can adjust these settings to your liking and activate the required tools. Let's take a look at how to customize and use the text extractor in this guide. Click on Text Extractor in the left sidebar. Now click and enable the Enable Text Extractor toggle at the top. Click the Edit icon next to Activate shortcut. # Now press your preferred key combination that you wish to use to activate the text extractor on your PC. Click Save to save the combination. #If you wish to restore to the default key combination, click Reset. You can also click "Cancel" to abort creating the key combination. Now click on the drop-down menu of Preferred Language and select the language you want to use with the text extractor. We can now use the text extractor wherever we like. Let's take a look at how to extract text from a web page in this example. Visit the preferred web page from which you wish to capture text. Scroll to the text you want to copy and press the key combination you set for the text extractor in the guide above. If you haven't changed the key combination, you can press the keyboard to activate the text extractor. Windows Shift T Now click and drag to select the text you want to extract. The text in the selected area will be automatically extracted and copied to the clipboard. Now you can paste it anywhere you like by pressing . Ctrl V Similarly, you can also extract text from images, applications, etc. Let’s try to extract text from the Settings app in this example. Press to open the Settings app. Windows i Now press the key combination to activate the text extractor. If no custom combination is set, press . As we did before, click and drag on the screen to select the text you want to extract. Windows Shift T Now the text will be extracted and copied to the clipboard. You can now press to paste the text anywhere you like. Ctrl V This is how you can use text extractor on PC. How to remove OCR language pack when removing PowerToys Sometimes you may want to remove an installed OCR language pack from your computer. Here's how you can do it. Please follow the steps below to help you through the process. Press to openRun. Windows R Type the following and press . Ctrl Shift Enter powershell ##Now use the following command to check the installed OCR language pack. Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*' } You should now get a list like the one below. Check "Status" under the listed language pack. If any language pack appears as "Installed", that language pack is already installed on your computer. Make a note of its language code, it will be after ~~~. After taking note of it, use the following command to delete the language pack from your computer. Replace [language code] with the code you noted down earlier. $Capability = Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*[Language code]<strong>*' }</strong> Next, apply the changes using the following command. $Capability | Remove-WindowsCapability -Online Type the following and press Enter to close PowerShell. exit That’s it! Now you have removed the selected OCR language pack from your PC.

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