Frequently Asked Questions

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) reads text inside images and converts it into editable, searchable characters. It is used for digitizing documents, reading screenshots, and speeding up data entry from photos.

Yes. There is no signup, no credit card, and no watermarks on exported text. AI OCR is limited to 10 uses per day per IP address; browser OCR remains available after that.

Yes by default. Extract Text uses cloud AI OCR first (Google Gemini). If that request fails or returns no text, the tool falls back to Tesseract.js in your browser. You can also enable Local OCR only to skip the AI path. Details are in the Privacy Policy.

Yes. Turn on Local OCR only in the tool. Images then stay in your tab for Tesseract.js recognition and are not sent to Gemini through our API. Engine language files may still load from the network.

Yes, 10 AI OCR runs per day, resetting at UTC midnight. The count is kept per IP address rather than per person, so if several people share one office, campus, or home connection, they share the same allowance. When the limit is reached, Extract Text keeps working using browser-based Tesseract.js.

For AI OCR (the default), the image is sent through our server to Google’s AI service for that extraction. We do not permanently store uploads as a user archive. Local OCR only and the browser fallback do not upload the image for recognition. See the Privacy Policy and Data Retention.

The tool switches to the browser-based Tesseract.js pipeline with preprocessing so you can still extract text.

PNG, JPG, JPEG, WEBP, and GIF. Use clear, high-contrast images. For scanned PDFs, export pages as images first.

Not as a multi-page PDF container today. Export or screenshot each page to PNG/JPG, then run OCR. The PDF to Text guide explains the workflow.

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi. Select the language that matches your document.

Clean Mode helps full-page screenshots and document-style captures, including focusing on centered dialogs when possible. Turn it off for simple logos or single-line labels.

It depends on sharpness, contrast, language, font, and print vs handwriting. Always proofread names, numbers, and critical wording.

Sometimes, especially neat print. Cursive and messy notes are unreliable. See Handwriting to Text for photo tips and expectations.

You may use text extracted from images you have rights to use. We do not claim ownership of your input or output. Respect copyright and confidentiality.

Yes, in modern mobile browsers. Upload from the camera roll or take a photo and extract without installing a desktop app.

AI OCR is usually quick. Browser fallback may download language data on first use; later runs in the same session are typically faster.

No permanent archive. Text appears in your browser session until you copy, download, or leave the page.

This site may display ads (for example, through Google AdSense) when advertising is enabled. See the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy for details and controls.

Email admin@elangodev.com or use the Contact page. We typically respond within 1–3 business days.

Elango P operates OCR Text Extractor independently. See the About page and author profile for mission and contact details.

The OCR tool is free — no paid plans are sold on the site today — so refunds do not apply. This is restated in the Terms of Use.

After extraction, use the download controls for TXT, DOCX, or PDF of the recognized text, or copy to the clipboard.

Yes. When text is present in the results panel, the tool shows word and character counts to help with quick checks.

You can batch up to ten images in one session.

The image may lack sharp text, the crop may be wrong, the language may not match, or the photo may be too dark. Retake, crop tighter, and retry. Allow fallback to finish if AI fails.

Engines guess from shapes and language priors. Unusual names and noisy images produce lookalikes. Compare against the image before trusting output.

Be cautious. Mistakes on IDs are costly, and uploads have privacy implications. Prefer official channels for identity workflows. This free tool is for general convenience text, not ID verification systems.

Yes. The site is served over HTTPS. That protects data in transit to our servers; it does not remove the need to think about what you upload to AI OCR.

PNG is often better for screenshots (lossless edges). JPG is common for camera photos. Improve capture quality rather than converting between formats.

Browser fallback runs in your browser after AI failure or quota exhaustion, but the site itself still loads from the network. For air-gapped needs, use local desktop OCR.

We do not operate a training pipeline on your uploads. Cloud AI processing follows the provider’s terms named in the Privacy Policy.

See the Data Retention Policy for images, logs, cookies, and email correspondence timelines.

Use Cookie Settings on the site and your browser controls. Essential preferences may still be required for consent memory. Ad cookies follow Google’s controls when ads load.

No. It helps many screenshots and full-page scans. For tiny stickers or artistic type, raw mode can look better — try both.

Often not. You may get cell text without perfect column structure. Rebuild tables manually when layout matters.

TXT for plain archives and tickets, DOCX when someone will edit further, PDF when you need a shareable print of recovered text.

No. It is a practical utility for everyday images. Regulated industries usually need audited systems with retention and access controls.

Shoot square-on, use even light, fill the frame with text, avoid flash glare, and crop before upload. Image to Text covers JPG photo tips (older jpg-to-text URLs redirect there).

Capture as PNG when possible, enable Clean Mode, upload on Screenshot to Text or Image to Text, then copy the dialog text.

Current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop and mobile. JavaScript must be enabled.

It powers the browser fallback so extraction can continue when AI is unavailable. It is open-source software under the Apache License 2.0.

Yes for drafting digital versions of materials you have rights to use. Follow school copyright and privacy policies.

Yes — that is a common use case. Proofread paths and line numbers before applying fixes.

This site is a consumer web tool, not a general-purpose billed API product. See OCR for Developers for patterns and when to use provider APIs.

Use Image to Text, PDF to Text, and Handwriting to Text — each has unique advice plus the same extractor. Older png-to-text, jpg-to-text, and extract-text URLs redirect to Image to Text.

They make pages easier to navigate for people and clearer for search engines. The XML sitemap lists indexable URLs including tools and blog posts.

Crop tighter to the content region or rely on Clean Mode for centered dialogs, then re-extract.

Yes — copy the text into your translator of choice. OCR and translation are separate steps; bad OCR will produce bad translations.

Treat OCR as a draft. Courts and employers usually require original documents or certified processes. See the Disclaimer.

Email admin@elangodev.com with browser, device, steps, and what you expected. Do not send confidential images unless necessary.

See How it works, OCR accuracy and limitations, and the format-specific pages in Related tools.