How to copy text from a screenshot on iPhone and Android

To copy text from a screenshot on iPhone, open it in Photos, touch and hold a word, drag the grab points over the text you want, and tap Copy (or Select All). On Android, open the screenshot in Google Photos, tap Lens, select the text and tap Copy. Samsung phones also have a yellow "T" button in Gallery that does the same thing. No extra app is needed on either phone.

Below are the exact steps for each phone, for a Mac and a Windows PC, plus the cases where text recognition quietly gets it wrong, and what happens to your screenshot when you use each tool.

Copy text from a screenshot: the quick answer by device

All of these do the same basic job, called optical character recognition (OCR): they look at the pixels, find letters and turn them into text you can paste. The differences are in where they live and where your image goes while it happens.

How to copy text from an image on iPhone (Live Text)

Live Text is built into iOS 15 and later, on iPhone XS, iPhone XR and newer models. It works on screenshots, photos and paused videos.

From a screenshot or photo

1. Open the Photos app and open the screenshot.
2. Touch and hold a word in the image. It highlights, with grab points at each end.
3. Drag the grab points to cover the text you want.
4. Tap Copy. To grab everything in the image, tap Select All instead.

If the text doesn't highlight, look for the Live Text button in the bottom-right corner of the photo (a small square with lines in it). Tapping it marks all the text the iPhone can read. Apple's guide to copying and translating text from photos covers the same steps, plus the Translate and Look Up options that appear next to Copy.

From the Camera, before you take a screenshot at all

1. Open the Camera and point it at the text.
2. When a yellow frame appears around the text, tap the Live Text button.
3. Touch and hold to select, then tap Copy.

This is handy for a Wi-Fi password on a router sticker or a sign you'd otherwise photograph and forget.

If Live Text isn't working

• Check it's switched on: Settings → General → Language & Region → Live Text.
• Check the language. Live Text supports a fixed list of languages, and Apple's page lists them.
• Older iPhones (before the XS and XR) don't have it at all.

How to copy text from an image on Android (Google Lens)

Android doesn't have one feature called "Live Text", but almost every Android phone has Google Lens, and it lives in a few places.

In Google Photos

1. Open the screenshot in Google Photos.
2. Tap Lens at the bottom. On some versions it's under More (the three dots) → Google Lens.
3. Tap the text to select it, or tap Select all if Lens offers it.
4. Tap Copy.

Google's own help page for searching your photos with Lens describes the More → Google Lens route and says simply to tap and select the words you want to copy. The labels move around between app versions, but Lens, Text and Copy are the three words to look for.

In the Google app

1. Open the Google app and tap the Lens (camera) icon in the search bar.
2. Tap the gallery icon and pick your screenshot.
3. Switch to the Text tab if it isn't already selected.
4. Select the text and tap Copy text.

With Circle to Search

On Pixel phones, recent Samsung Galaxy phones and some others, long-press the home button or the navigation handle to start Circle to Search. Tap or circle the text on screen, then tap Copy. This works on whatever's on your screen right now, so you don't even need to take the screenshot first. It isn't on every Android phone.

On Samsung Galaxy: Extract text in Gallery

Samsung's Gallery app has its own text recognition. When a picture contains text, a yellow "T" button appears near the bottom of the screen.

1. Open the screenshot in Gallery.
2. Tap the yellow "T" button.
3. Select the text, or tap Select all, then tap Copy.

The button only shows on newer versions of One UI (roughly One UI 5 and later), and Samsung uses the same "T" for paused videos. If you don't see it, Google Lens works on Galaxy phones too.

Copy text from a screenshot on Mac and Windows

Mac. On macOS Monterey or later, open the screenshot in Preview, Photos or Quick Look, then click and drag across the text as if it were a document, and press Command-C. In Preview you may need the Text Selection tool (Tools → Text Selection) first. Apple's Preview guide explains how to interact with text in a photo.

Windows 11. Take or open a screenshot in the Snipping Tool and click the Text actions button in the toolbar. The tool highlights every line it can read. From there you can select part of it and copy, or use Copy all text. Microsoft's Snipping Tool help lists Text actions, Copy all text and Quick redact, which hides emails and phone numbers before you share.

When copying text from a screenshot fails

OCR is good, but not magic. It struggles in the same few places on every phone.

• Handwriting. Neat print often works. Cursive and rushed notes often don't, or come out with a few letters swapped. Always read it back before you send it.
• Low resolution. A screenshot of a screenshot, a zoomed-out web page or a compressed image from a chat app can drop below what OCR can read. Take a new screenshot zoomed in if you can.
• Stylized fonts and text on busy backgrounds. Posters, Instagram stories with script fonts and text over photos are the usual troublemakers. Expect missing words.
• Tables and columns. You'll get the words, but often in the wrong order or as one long line. The Windows Snipping Tool and some newer phone tools can copy tables, but check the result.
• Numbers that matter. OCR mixes up 0 and O, 1 and l, 5 and S. For an IBAN, a booking code or a password, compare every character before you use it.

The fix for most of these is the same: get a sharper, closer image of just the text you need.

What happens to your screenshot when you copy text

Worth knowing before you use OCR on a bank statement or an ID.

• Live Text on iPhone and Mac runs on the device. Apple has described it as on-device intelligence since it launched with iOS 15, so the screenshot isn't uploaded just to read the text.
• Google Lens generally sends the image to Google to process, because it's also a search tool. What's kept afterwards depends on your Google account activity settings.
• Samsung's Extract text and the Windows Snipping Tool don't make the same on-device promise as clearly in their help pages, so if it matters, check your phone's or PC's privacy settings.

None of this makes Lens unsafe for a recipe or a quote. It's just worth choosing the on-device option for anything private.

Copying is the easy part; finding the screenshot is harder

All of these tools assume you already have the screenshot open. In practice, the hard part is usually finding it: it's one of 4,000 images, you remember roughly what it said, and scrolling doesn't work.

Both phones can search the text inside your screenshots, too. Here's how to search text in photos on iPhone and how to search text inside screenshots on Android. If you're still scrolling for something from last spring, try the steps in how to find a screenshot you took months ago.

Where Reminari fits

If you copy text from screenshots because they're full of things you meant to keep, like an address, a recipe or a product name, that's the problem I'm building Reminari for.

Share a screenshot to Reminari, or let it pick up new ones automatically, and it reads the text in each one on your device. You can then search by the words in the image, or search by meaning: "that pasta recipe with lemon" finds the screenshot even if it says "spaghetti al limone". With optional cloud AI turned on, it adds a short summary and files it into smart groups like Recipes or Travel.

What it doesn't do: it isn't a document scanner, it won't edit or redact images, and it doesn't replace Live Text or Lens for a quick one-off copy. It's Android first, with the iPhone app in testing. You can join the early-access list.

Frequently asked questions

How do I copy text from a screenshot on iPhone?

Open the screenshot in Photos, touch and hold a word, drag the grab points over the text, and tap Copy. Tap Select All to copy all the text in the image. This uses Live Text, which needs iPhone XS or XR or later and iOS 15 or later.

How do I copy text from an image on Android without an app?

Open the image in Google Photos and tap Lens, then select the text and tap Copy. On Samsung Galaxy phones, you can also tap the yellow "T" button in Gallery. On Pixel and recent Galaxy phones, Circle to Search can copy text straight from the screen.

Why can't I select text in my screenshot?

Usually the text is too small, too blurry or in a decorative font for OCR to read. On iPhone, also check that Live Text is on in Settings → General → Language & Region and that the language is supported. Try a sharper, zoomed-in screenshot of just that text.

Is it safe to copy text from screenshots of private documents?

It depends on the tool. Apple's Live Text reads text on your device. Google Lens generally sends the image to Google for processing. For IDs, bank details or medical documents, use an on-device option and check what you've copied before pasting it anywhere.