Image to Text for Windows

How to Install Image to Text Desktop App

Windows apps come in four kinds of package. This guide covers each one, using the apps on this site as examples.

On this page

Method 1: Classic installer (.exe / .msi)

Used by PowerToys (GitHub build), NAPS2, Tesseract, and FineReader.

  1. Download from the official sourceUse the links on the download page. Save the file to your Downloads folder.
  2. Unblock the file if neededRight-click the installer → Properties. If you see an Unblock checkbox at the bottom, tick it and click OK.
  3. Run the installerDouble-click it. When User Account Control asks for permission, check that the publisher shown is the expected developer, then click Yes.
  4. Choose optionsAccept the license. Keep the default install folder unless you have a reason to change it. For Tesseract, open Additional script data and Additional language data and select the languages you need.
  5. Finish and launchClick Finish. Most apps start straight away. PowerToys starts in the notification area.

Method 2: Microsoft Store

Used by PowerToys and Text Grab. This is the only method that works in Windows S mode.

  1. Open the Microsoft StoreSearch for the app by name. Check that the publisher is correct (Microsoft Corporation for PowerToys, Joseph Finney for Text Grab).
  2. Click Get or InstallThe Store downloads and installs the app, and updates it automatically from then on.
  3. Open the appLaunch it from the Start menu.

Method 3: winget (command line)

Windows Package Manager comes with Windows 11 and current Windows 10 (as App Installer). It installs, lists, and updates apps from a terminal.

# Search for OCR-related packages
winget search ocr

# Install PowerToys
winget install --id Microsoft.PowerToys --source winget

# Later: update everything
winget upgrade --all
TipAlways install by exact ID (--id). A search by name can match more than one package.

Method 4: Portable .zip

Used by Capture2Text and the portable NAPS2 build. Nothing is written to Program Files or the registry.

  1. Download the .zipUnblock it (Properties → Unblock) before you extract it, so the extracted files are not flagged.
  2. Extract all filesRight-click → Extract All. Pick a permanent folder such as C:\Tools\Capture2Text. Avoid Downloads and temporary folders.
  3. Create a shortcutRight-click the .exe → Show more options → Send to → Desktop (create shortcut).
  4. Optional: start with WindowsPress Win+R, type shell:startup, and put a copy of the shortcut in that folder.

Verify the installation

  1. Open an image with textFor example, a screenshot of a web page.
  2. Run the app's capture or importScreen tools: press the hotkey and select the text. NAPS2: Import the image, then save it as a PDF with OCR on.
  3. Paste the resultPaste into Notepad and check the text. If it is garbled, check the OCR language in Setup and Configuration.

For Tesseract:

tesseract --version
tesseract --list-langs
tesseract C:\path\to\image.png C:\path\to\output -l eng
type C:\path\to\output.txt

Uninstalling

Go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps → select the app → Uninstall. For portable apps, close the app (including its tray icon) and delete its folder. Also delete its shortcut from shell:startup if you added one.