Your camera roll is full of useful text trapped inside pictures — a Wi-Fi password on a router, a recipe in a cookbook, a page of notes, a business card. On modern phones you can lift that text out in a couple of taps. Here's how on both iPhone and Android, plus a method that works on absolutely any phone.
On iPhone (Live Text)
iPhones running recent versions of iOS have Live Text built in:
- Open the photo in the Photos app.
- Press and hold on the text in the image — it becomes selectable.
- Drag to select, then tap Copy. Paste it anywhere.
You can also tap the Live Text icon (the little lines inside a box) in the corner to grab all the text at once.
On Android (Google Lens)
Most Android phones use Google Lens:
- Open the photo in Google Photos and tap the Lens icon (or open the Lens app).
- Tap Text, then select the words you want.
- Tap Copy text — done.
The method that works on any phone
Live Text and Lens are great, but they aren't on every phone, and they don't always catch everything. A browser OCR tool works identically on any phone or computer, with no app to install:
- Open the Image to Text tool in your phone's browser.
- Upload the photo from your gallery.
- Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
No Live Text? Do this
If your phone is older and doesn't have built-in text selection, the browser tool is the simplest route — it doesn't depend on your phone's age or operating system. It's also the answer when you need to copy text from many photos quickly, or when the built-in feature misses part of the text.
Tips for a clean copy
- Hold steady and get good light when you take the photo — sharp, evenly lit text reads far better.
- Fill the frame with the text and keep the page straight, not at an angle.
- Crop to the text area with the Crop tool if the background is busy.
For the general how-to on any image, see how to extract text from an image.
Frequently asked questions
Open the photo in Photos, press and hold on the text (Live Text makes it selectable), drag to select, and tap Copy. On older iPhones without Live Text, use a browser OCR tool like Image to Text.
Open the photo in Google Photos, tap the Lens icon, choose Text, select the words, and tap Copy text. A browser OCR tool works too if Lens isn't available on your device.
Your phone may not have built-in text recognition (older OS), or the photo is too blurry or angled. A browser OCR tool doesn't depend on your phone's features and handles it either way.
With Pixveil's Image to Text, yes — the photo is read in your browser and never uploaded, so private documents stay on your device.