Enable or disable automatic scanning of images for text in the Photos app

In this post, we’ll show you how enable or disable automatic scanning of images for text in the Photos app on a Windows 11/10 computer. Microsoft recently announced a new update to the Photos app that introduces it Optical character recognition (OCR) for all Windows 11/10 PCs, allowing users to do so extract text from images directly in the application.

The OCR feature makes the Photos app more functional for both personal and professional use. It is controlled by a specific setting called “Automatically scan images for text‘ which can be enabled or disabled depending on the user’s preferences or requirements. When enabled, the setting allows the Photos app to automatically detect and recognize text in images, such as photos of documents, handwritten notes, or any other visual content, without the need for third-party tools.

Enable or disable automatic scanning of images for text in the Photos app

In the following sections, we’ll show you how enable or disable “automatically scan images for text” in the Microsoft Photos app. However, before that, please note that the update is currently only rolling out to Windows Insiders, but will be available to everyone soon. So first update the Photos app.

Enable automatic image scanning for text in the Photos app

The OCR feature is default active in the Microsoft Photos app. This means that when you view an image, the app will automatically detect any text present and make it available for copying without requiring any further action.

To confirm this, open an image that contains text. Wait a moment to see if the app automatically detects the text. Look for the OCR icon at the bottom of the image.
If the text is detected, you should be able to select it and copy it.

To copy the entire text to the clipboard, click Copy all the text button at the bottom.

To copy a portion of the identified text, highlight the specific portion by clicking and dragging over it. Then right click and select Copy the text option.

You can now paste the copied text into any application (such as Word, Notepad, etc.) using “Ctrl + V” or by right-clicking and selecting Paste.

Turn off automatic scanning of images for text in the Photos app

If you’d rather the app not actively search for text in every image you open, you can turn off the “Automatically scan images for text” option.

Click on Start menu and search for “Photographs‘ to open the app. In the Photos app, click settings icon (wheel) in the upper right corner.

On the Settings page, look for “Automatically scan images for text‘ option below Personalization section. Toggle the switch next to this option to off position to turn off the OCR feature in the Photos app.

You can reactivate the feature at any time by following the same steps and switching the setting back to “On”.

Reading: How to Add Favorites to the Photos app in Windows.

How to scan an image for text?

You can use the Microsoft Photos app to scan an image for text. Open the app and select the image you want to scan. Wait a moment for the app to detect the text automatically. Once detected, you can select and copy the text to the clipboard directly from the app.

Is there an app to scan image to text?

Yes, there are several online and offline applications for scanning images to text on Windows computers. The Microsoft Photos app includes an OCR feature that lets you extract text directly from images. Microsoft OneNote has built-in OCR capabilities for images inserted in notes. Other free programs such as Capture2Textcan also be installed on Windows for quick image to text conversion.

Read on: The best free OCR software for Windows.