# Extract Text — Extract text from images and scanned PDFs on Mac (OCR)

Read text out of photos, screenshots and scanned PDFs with Apple's Vision framework. Part of OneMacTools, 151 private tools in one native Mac app (macOS 26 or later); category: On-device AI. Runs on your Mac; nothing is uploaded.

Drop images or PDFs and get their text as .txt files, combined or one per file, and copied to the clipboard. Recognition runs on your Mac and detects the language automatically. PDFs that already contain text are read directly.

Page: https://www.onemactools.com/tools/extract-text-ocr · Download: https://www.onemactools.com/download · Pricing: https://www.onemactools.com/pricing

## How to use it
1. **Add your files.** Drop photos, screenshots, scanned PDFs or ordinary PDFs onto Extract Text. Or select them in Finder, right-click and choose Quick Actions › OMT: Extract Text, which uses your last settings.
2. **Check the options.** In the right-hand panel, choose whether to use a PDF's own text, whether to combine everything into one file and whether to copy the result to the clipboard.
3. **Click Extract.** Each image and each PDF page is read with the text recognition built into macOS. The language is detected for you.
4. **Use the text.** With Also copy to clipboard on, the text is ready to paste straight away. The .txt files are saved in a new dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools; open them with the Preview (eye) button or Show in Finder.

## Options
- **Use a PDF's own text when it has some:** On by default. When a PDF page already contains real text, that text is used as it is, which is faster and exact. Pages with little or no text are read as images. Turn it off to read every page as an image, for example when a PDF's built-in text comes out garbled or in the wrong order.
- **Combine into one file:** Off by default, so each file gets its own .txt named after it. Turn it on to get a single file, “Extracted Text.txt”, with each file's text under a line showing its name.
- **Also copy to clipboard:** On by default. Copies the text of everything you dropped, so you can paste it into an email, a note or a document without opening the files.

## Tips
- Photograph text straight on, in good light and in focus. Sharp, evenly lit shots read far better than angled or shadowy ones.
- For text that's already on your screen, Grab Text from Screen is quicker: drag over any area and the text is copied.
- If you want a PDF you can search and select in, rather than a separate text file, use Make PDF Searchable. It adds the recognised text to the PDF itself.
- Neat handwriting can often be read, but check names, numbers and dates against the original before you rely on them.
- Line breaks follow the lines in the picture, so paragraphs may come out split. Paste the text into Clean Up Text and join lines broken by PDFs.
- Tables come out as lines of text. Use PDF to Excel when you need the rows and columns kept.

## Questions
**How do I copy text from an image on a Mac?**
Drop the images onto Extract Text and click Extract. The text is saved as .txt and copied to your clipboard. For something on screen, Grab Text from Screen lets you drag over any area.

**Which languages can it read?**
It uses the text recognition built into macOS and detects the language automatically, so it isn't limited to English. It reads the languages that macOS text recognition supports.

**Can it read a scanned PDF?**
Yes. Pages that are pictures of text are read with on-device text recognition. Pages that already contain text are read directly, unless you turn off “Use a PDF's own text when it has some”.

**Can it read handwriting?**
Neat handwriting often works, but results vary much more than with printed text. Check anything important against the original.

**Why does the text from my PDF look jumbled?**
Some PDFs store their text in an odd order or with broken characters. Turn off “Use a PDF's own text when it has some” so each page is read as an image instead.

**Can I extract text from lots of images at once?**
Yes. Drop as many as you like. Each gets its own .txt file, or turn on Combine into one file to get them all together, each under its file name.

**How do I get a PDF's text into Word instead?**
Use PDF to Text & Word. It saves an editable .docx and also reads scanned pages.