I think optical character recognition (OCR) is one of my favorite productivity tools. Grabbing text from an image and copy-pasting it wherever you like is a godsend, especially when the alternative is manually typing it out.

Right now, there is a way to grab text using Windows 11's Snipping Tool, but as we covered in our guide to the Snipping Tool's OCR feature, it's a little clunky and requires you to take a screenshot first. Fortunately, a new update will allow you to copy text from a screenshot in just a couple of clicks and without taking a screenshot.

Microsoft is adding a more advanced OCR feature to the Snipping Tool

Once again, we are indebted to the mighty PhantomOfEarth for spotting this feature. If this is the first time you've met them, they're an expert at looking through beta builds of Windows and finding tools that Microsoft is working on but currently hidden from users. PhantomOfEarth sniffed out references to an advanced OCR implementation in the Snipping tool's code months ago, but now it has actually developed into a functioning feature.

As you can see from the demo below, Microsoft is simplifying the existing process where you have to save a screenshot before you can use Snipping Tool's OCR feature. Now, you just have to click a button and grab the text as it appears.

PhantomOfEarth notes that it's "essentially the PowerToys tool," so it's nothing too new. However, given that the Snipping Tool comes pre-installed with every copy of Windows 11, you won't have to download PowerToys to use it. Doesn't matter if you're on a new laptop, a library PC, or a co-worker's PC; you'll have OCR tools right there at your fingertips.