toolswitch › Text from screen
Copy text from screen or images (OCR) — free and offline
Text in an image, a video, a scanned PDF or an app that won’t let you select it? Press a shortcut, draw a box around it and the text is in your clipboard.
Shortcut: Super+Shift+X on Linux · Ctrl+Alt+X on Windows · Cmd+Option+X on Mac
What it does
Any part of the screen
Images, videos, error messages, scanned documents, slides in a call.
Accents and symbols
Reads á, é, ñ, ü, ¿, € and 30+ languages written in the Latin alphabet.
Offline
The OCR model runs on your computer: nothing is uploaded, and it works without internet.
Fast
About half a second for a normal selection.
How to use it
- Download and install toolswitch. It waits in your tray / top bar.
- Turn on Text from screen in toolswitch.
- Press the shortcut and draw a box around the text.
- Paste it wherever you want.
Use it instead of: Windows PowerToys Text Extractor, Google Lens, Normcap, TextSniper, online OCR sites.
First launch: the installers aren’t signed with a paid certificate yet. On Windows click More info → Run anyway; on macOS open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
Questions
How do I copy text from an image on Linux?
Install toolswitch, turn on Text from screen and press Super+Shift+X. Draw a box around the text and it’s copied.
Does it need internet?
Only once, to download the model (a few MB). After that it works offline.
Which languages does it read?
Languages written with the Latin alphabet: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian and 30+ more.