How to Copy Text From Anywhere on Screen With Microsoft PowerToys

What to know

• The Text Extractor function of EnergyToys enables you to copy textual content from wherever in your display.
• Use the shortcut – Win+Shift+T – to activate Text Extractor and draw a field round your textual content to repeat it to the clipboard.
• You can extract textual content in any language so long as you may have its OCR pack put in in your Windows device. 

Being in a position to copy any textual content that you just see in your display isn’t a luxurious that’s natively supported on Windows. Like many working techniques, you may’t merely spotlight the textual content that you just see in your display and replica it. 

Fortunately, the EnergyToys utility gives a handy method to do that. With its Text Extractor function, you may extract any textual content from any language that you just see in your display. Here’s how one can extract and replica textual content from wherever in your display with EnergyToys. 

Traditionally one has to take a snapshot of the display after which use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) instruments to extract the textual content, which is a protracted and cumbersome workaround. But with the Text Extraction function in EnergyToys, actually each word that you just see in your display could be captured and copied to the clipboard, that too in any language.

Before we start, be sure that to put in EnergyToys in your Windows PC. Once EnergyToys is in your system, launch it and comply with the steps given under to begin copying the textual content in your display.

Guide: Install EnergyToys in your Windows PC

Next, use the guides under to begin capturing textual content in your display using the EnergyToys utility.

1. Enable Text Extractor on EnergyToys and choose your ‘Preferred language’

In the EnergyToys window, scroll down on the left and choose Text Extractor.

On the precise, be sure that the Enable Text Extractor possibility is toggled On.

Then, below the “Shortcut” part, choose the ‘Preferred language’ by clicking on the drop-down menu next to it.

And choose the language of the textual content that you just wish to copy.

You will solely see the essential English language-location packs when you don’t have any further OCR packs put in in your Windows PC. To know more about putting in OCR language packs on Windows, confer with the third step.

2. Capture textual content on the display

If the textual content that you just wish to seize is in English, then merely open the image, web page, or window the place the textual content is in order that it’s seen in your display. Then press the Activation shortcut – Win+Shift+T.

Your display will flip grey and your cursor will flip right into a crosshair. 

Hold left click on and drag your cursor to make a field across the textual content that you just wish to copy. 

Once achieved, launch the cursor. The textual content will mechanically be detected and copied to the clipboard. You are actually free to stick the textual content (Ctrl+V) wherever you need.

3. Capture textual content in a distinct language 

If the textual content that you just wish to copy is in a distinct language, you’ll have to have the OCR pack for that language put in on Windows. Here’s how one can get it and use it to seize textual content in a language aside from English.

3.1 – Get a listing of supported OCR language packs on Windows

Firstly, ensure that the language whose OCR pack you wish to set up is supported by Windows. To get a listing of those, firstly open an elevated instance of PowerShell. To accomplish that, press Start, kind Powershell, and choose Run as administrator. 

Then kind or copy the next into PowerShell:

Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*' }

And press Enter. You will get a listing of all of the OCR language packs which are supported on Windows.

The languages can be abbreviated within the language-location format. So, ar-SA is ‘Arabic-Saudi Arabia’.

And en-US is ‘English-US’.

If an OCR language pack is already in your system, you’ll see ‘Installed’ next to its ‘State’. Otherwise, you’ll see ‘NotPresent’. If a language isn’t obtainable within the listing, then it’s not supported by OCR.

3.2 – Install a supported OCR language pack on Windows

To begin putting in a supported OCR language pack on Windows, pay attention to the language-location abbreviation of that language.

Then kind or copy the next into PowerShell:

$Capability = Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*en-US*' }

In the above instance, substitute en-US with the pack that you just wish to set up. In our case, we’re going with Russian-Russia whose abbreviation is ru-RU. 

Then hit Enter. Next, kind the next:

$Capability | Add-WindowsCapability -Online

And hit Enter. Wait for the pack to be downloaded and put in.

Once completed, it is best to see the Online : True affirmation message.

Now that your language pack is put in, return to Text Extractor in EnergyToys. Click on the drop-down menu next to Preferred language.

And choose your new most well-liked language.

3.4 – Capture textual content within the new language

With your most well-liked language chosen in EnergyToys, open the image, window, or web page the place the textual content is. Then press the activation shortcut – Win+Shift+T.

As earlier than, left-click and drag your cursor to attract a field across the textual content that you just wish to copy.

Let go of the left click on and the textual content can be acknowledged and copied to the clipboard. Paste it wherever you want.

The characters of the textual content can be within the precise script of the textual content language.

FAQ

Let’s take into account a couple of generally requested questions on extracting and copying textual content from wherever on the display using EnergyToys on Windows.

How to take away an put in OCR language pack on Windows?

If you may have put in an OCR language pack that you just now wish to uninstall, run PowerShell as administrator and enter $Capability = Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object { $_.Name -Like 'Language.OCR*en-US*' } Make positive to switch en-US with the abbreviation of the language pack that you just wish to take away. Then enter $Capability | Remove-WindowsCapability -Online. Your pack can be eliminated immediately. 

If Text Extractor isn’t working, strive operating PowerShell as administrator. Also attempt to shut any program that adjustments or messes along with your Windows UI, comparable to MicaForEveryone which is understood to trigger points when using EnergyToys’ Text Extractor. 

Which screens can EnergyToys copy textual content from?

The Text Extractor utility inside EnergyToys can copy textual content from wherever in your display, be it in a picture, an open window, your browser, a Windows Settings web page, and so on. As lengthy as it’s seen to you in your display, it may be copied to the clipboard. Simply press Win+Shift+T to convey up the textual content extractor, draw a field across the textual content, and it is going to be acknowledged and copied to the clipboard mechanically.

The Text Extractor utility inside EnergyToys gives a easy and efficient method of copying textual content that you just see in your display. And the power to take action in any language is bound to allow your every day Windows duties and capabilities. We hope this information helped you with the identical. Until next time!