The best OCR Chrome extension for copying text from images
An OCR extension turns any picture in your browser into text you can copy, no retyping. There are a few in the store, so rather than a ranked list that ages badly, here is what actually separates a good one from a frustrating one, and a free pick that ticks the boxes.
What to look for in an OCR extension
Most of them can read text off an image. The differences that matter day to day are these:
- On-device vs upload. Some extensions send your image to a server to run OCR. One that recognises text locally keeps the picture on your machine, which matters for IDs, receipts and anything private.
- Pick the area. Drawing a box over just the part you need keeps menus, buttons and captions out of the result. Avoid tools that make you pick a language and confirm every single time.
- Free with no daily cap. Watch for tools that give a few free scans, then ask you to sign up or pay.
- Clean output. You want the text on your clipboard or as a .txt file, not trapped in the extension's own window.
- Works on any image. Photos, screenshots, PNG and JPG alike, not just one narrow case.
A free pick that fits: Extract Text from Image
Extract Text from Image is a free Chrome extension built around those points: the OCR runs on your device, you draw a box over any picture or screenshot and get the text, there is no account and no daily limit, and it hands you the text to copy or download.
- Add the extension to Chrome.
- Open the page with the image, click the extension, then Start selection.
- Drag a box over the text. It is read on your device.
- Copy all, or Download a .txt file. For a picture saved on your computer, use the Upload File tab or paste it with Ctrl+V.
How it did in our test
We ran it on two images in Chrome: a shop receipt with prices and a presentation slide with numbers.
- Receipt: 66 words, 0 errors, the same result in all 6 runs, including prices, the date and the receipt number.
- Slide: 1 error in 50 words, every time: “0.7” came out as “O.7”. Zeros next to letters are the usual weak spot of OCR, so check them before pasting into a spreadsheet.
- Speed: about 15 seconds for the very first read after installing, while the recognition engine starts; about 4 seconds after that. Measured on a small 2-core test machine.
- Several areas: + Add selection adds the next box to the same text, so a long page ends up in one place.
Other options
Copyfish is the best-known OCR extension and has been around for years; it is a fair choice, though some of its features lean on cloud processing. Google Lens and Google Keep can read text from images too, but they are not really Chrome extensions and pull you into a separate app or upload flow. If you want a focused, one-click, on-device tool that stays in your browser, an extension like Extract Text from Image is the shorter path.
When OCR is the wrong tool
If what you are trying to read is a table, OCR hands back loose text and you rebuild the grid by hand. For invoices, statements and reports the right tool keeps the rows and columns, see the best PDF to Excel Chrome extension and the walkthrough for a bank statement.
The workflows it covers
Once installed it handles the everyday cases: copying text from an image, from a screenshot, and on a PC or Chromebook. Same one click each time.