Copy Text Out of a Screenshot
The text you need is in an image — a screenshot someone sent you, a scanned invoice, an error message in a support ticket, a page that blocks selection. Retyping it is slow, and most OCR sites want you to upload the image first.
How to do it
Get the image into ShotFlow
Capture it, or use Open Image or Paste Image if it is already on your clipboard or disk.
Click Extract Text
The OCR engine is bundled with the extension. The first run takes a moment while it loads; after that it is quick.
Review the result
The recognised text appears ready to copy. Accuracy depends on the source: clean, high-contrast, reasonably large text reads best.
Copy and use it
Paste it wherever you needed it. The original image is untouched.
What makes it different
Runs locally, works offline
The recognition engine ships inside the extension rather than being fetched from a CDN or called as an API, so the image is never sent anywhere.
Good for the awkward cases
Error dialogs, scanned documents, screenshots pasted into tickets, and pages that deliberately prevent selecting text.
Crop first for better results
Cropping to just the text you want, before running OCR, reliably improves accuracy over running it on a full page.
Extract text, free and without an account
Nothing you capture leaves your browser unless you choose to share it.
Add to ChromeQuestions
How do I copy text from a screenshot?
Open the image in ShotFlow’s editor and click Extract Text. The recognised text appears ready to copy and paste.
Is my image uploaded to an OCR service?
No. The engine is bundled with the extension and runs in your browser, which is also why the download is larger than a typical screenshot extension.
How accurate is it?
Good on clean, high-contrast, reasonably sized text — UI screenshots, error messages, documents. It struggles with handwriting, heavy stylisation, very small text and low-contrast backgrounds.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Nothing is fetched at recognition time, so it works with no connection at all.
Can I improve the result?
Crop to just the region containing the text before running it. Less noise around the text consistently produces a better read than running OCR on a whole page.
Also in ShotFlow
Blur & redact
Hide an email address, a name or an account number in a screenshot or video.
Read more →Full page screenshot
Capture an entire webpage in Chrome, including everything below the fold, in one image.
Read more →Device mockups
Drop a capture into a phone, tablet or laptop frame on a chosen backdrop, in flat or isometric perspective.
Read more →