Guide · Windows 11 & 10
How to search for text inside screenshots and images on Windows
Updated
Windows Search and File Explorer can't search the text inside images. Snipping Tool's Text Actions and PowerToys Text Extractor can copy text from one image at a time, but neither searches a folder. To find a screenshot by what it says, use an app that reads (OCRs) every image and indexes the text, such as Homedex.
What Windows can do on its own
- Snipping Tool (Windows 11): open an image or screenshot, click Text Actions, and copy the recognised text. One image at a time.
- PowerToys Text Extractor: press Win+Shift+T and drag over any text on screen to copy it. Again, one image at a time, and only what's on screen.
- Windows Search: matches file names, and the contents of documents like Word files and PDFs with a text layer. It does not read text inside PNG or JPEG images.
So how do you find the screenshot in the first place?
That's the gap: the tools above help once you've found the image. To search thousands of screenshots for “wifi password” or a tracking number, the text has to be recognised ahead of time and stored in a searchable index.
Search every image by its text with Homedex
- 1Install Homedex
It recognises the text in your images and scanned PDFs in the background using Windows' own OCR engine. Nothing is uploaded.
- 2Search for the words
Type a word or phrase from the image. Matches show with the found text highlighted.
- 3Copy what you need
Press Space to preview, select the words you want, or press Ctrl+Shift+C to copy all the text from the selected images.
Questions
- Can Windows 11 search text in images?
- Not across files. Windows 11 can copy text from a single image with Snipping Tool's Text Actions, but Windows Search does not index text inside images.
- Is OCR on Windows private?
- Windows' built-in OCR engine runs on your PC. Homedex uses it, so recognised text never leaves your computer.
- Can I search text in scanned PDFs?
- Windows Search can't, because scanned PDFs are images. Homedex recognises scanned PDF pages like images, so they become searchable.
Every file you own, easy to find.
Homedex is a visual file browser for Windows. Big previews, plain-English search, text inside screenshots, duplicate cleanup — all on your device.
Related
- Search the text inside your screenshots, photos and PDFsHomedex reads the text in every screenshot, photo and scanned PDF on your computer, so you can find them by what they say. Offline, on Windows.
- Can't find a file you saved? 7 ways to find it on WindowsLost a file you just saved or downloaded? Check these seven places and search tricks on Windows 11 and 10, from Recent files to date filters.
- Homedex vs Everything (voidtools)Everything is the fastest free file-name search on Windows. Homedex is for when you don't know the name: text in images, download sources, duplicates, previews.