How to Redact and Extract Text From Images Using Snipping Tool on Windows 11

What to know

• Click on the ‘Text Actions’ button after which as soon as Snipping Tool identifies the textual content, click on on Copy textual content to repeat it to the clipboard, or Quick Redact to cover cellphone numbers and emails.
• Although you possibly can redact any piece of textual content in a picture by choosing, right-clicking, and selecting Redact textual content, the choice at present shouldn’t be working for English textual content. 
• Snipping Tool can determine textual content from plenty of different languages as effectively. 

Like many different apps, Microsoft is updating and streamlining Windows’ native screenshot app, Snipping Tool, with just a few new capabilities. ‘Text Action’, a brand new OCR-based characteristic, will now allow you to work together with any textual content present in a picture, extract and replica that textual content, in addition to redact delicate info to go together with it. 

Here’s all the pieces you might want to know to make use of the Snipping Tool to each copy in addition to redact textual content in images.   

What is Text Action on Snipping Tool?

Currently solely obtainable to Windows Insiders within the Dev and Canary channels, the Text Action characteristic in Snipping Tool can discover and spotlight selectable textual content inside images and screenshots taken with it. The textual content can later be copied to the clipboard or, relying on the character of the textual content, redacted to take care of privacy earlier than saving.

There’s a Quick Redact button to routinely hide emails and cellphone numbers if there are any within the image, which may velocity up working with digital paperwork, net content material, and pictures with delicate knowledge. Both these textual content actions look to simplify interplay with textual content in images and with what you see on display screen.

Snipping Tool’s Text Actions could be very near EnergyToys’ Text Extractor characteristic which is an honest different in case the previous shouldn’t be obtainable to you but.  

To start extracting textual content from a picture, first open the Snipping Tool app from Start.

With the digital camera icon chosen, click on on New.

Draw a field across the space that you simply need to seize.

Once carried out, return to the Snipping Tool window. Here, click on on the Text Actions button in the principle toolbar.

This will spotlight all of the textual content in your screenshot. 

Click on Copy all textual content to repeat all of the textual content to the clipboard.

Alternatively, if you wish to copy a selected part of the textual content, spotlight it, then right-click on it and choose Copy textual content.

How to redact textual content in Snipping device

Once you seize a screenshot, Snipping device offers you a Quick redact choice to rapidly take away all e-mail addresses and cellphone numbers within the image. First, click on on the Text Actions button.

Then click on on Quick redact.

Phone numbers and emails will probably be redacted. 

To change what components are redacted, click on on the down arrow next to ‘Quick redact’.

And select which components you need to keep.

You may also redact textual content in your screenshots by choosing it, right-clicking, and choosing Redact textual content. 

To delete all present redactions, choose Remove all redactions from ‘Text Actions’.

Extract and redact textual content in any image and language

Snipping Tool can determine textual content inside any image, not simply screenshots. To open a picture file, click on on the three-dot button within the Snipping Tool and choose Open file.

Select the image file.

Alternatively, you may as well drag and drop the image to Snipping Tool.

Then click on on the Text Actions button to determine and spotlight the textual content within the image.

Snipping Tool may also determine textual content in a number of languages.

Strangely sufficient, although it doesn’t allow you to right-click and redact any little bit of textual content in English, you possibly can redact any aspect of the textual content whether it is in one other language.  

And have it redacted with none problem.

We imagine the shortcoming to redact any textual content in English (not simply emails and passwords) is because of a bug and could also be fastened in a future update to the app.

FAQ

Let’s check out just a few incessantly requested questions on using Text Actions in Snipping Tool.

Can you select textual content to redact in Snipping Tool?

Although you possibly can choose the textual content that you simply need to redact, right-click and choose ‘Redact text’, or Ctrl+R, the choice doesn’t work as supposed at present for the English language. This is usually as a result of the Text Action characteristic remains to be being previewed. Expect this to vary with additional updates. 

Which languages does Snipping Tool’s textual content actions help?

Though Microsoft hasn’t talked about which languages Snipping Tool’s textual content identification helps, it appears to be working positive with many languages, together with French, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi. Do verify if it’s capable of determine textual content in your individual language as effectively.   

What is the distinction between Snipping Tool’s Text Actions and EnergyToys’ Text Extractor characteristic?

Snipping Tool’s Text Actions can determine textual content inside a picture in addition to redact delicate info, whereas EnergyToys’ Text Extractor can solely determine and replica textual content. It can not redact textual content. 

Text Actions within the Snipping Tool can show to be a really helpful addition, one that can allow customers to work together with the textual content from pages and display screen components the place Windows in any other case doesn’t allow you to. Though it might have been helpful if one thing like Text Actions was additionally dropped at the Photos app as effectively, we’re glad not less than Snipping Tool has it.

We hope you discovered this information helpful. Until next time! Keep studying.