PNG files are ideal for screenshots, diagrams, and graphics with sharp edges — and that makes them an excellent source for OCR. This free PNG-to-text converter reads the words inside your .png file using optical character recognition and returns them as plain, editable text you can copy or download in seconds.
Because PNG uses lossless compression, text in a PNG usually stays crisp, which often leads to cleaner OCR results than heavily compressed formats. The tool runs in your browser on the open-source Tesseract engine, supports roughly 12 languages, and needs no installation or account. Printed and typed text work best; handwriting recognition is limited.
How to convert PNG to text
- Upload your
.pngfile using the upload area. - Pick the language that matches the text for better accuracy.
- Click Convert to run the OCR engine.
- Review the extracted text in the results panel.
- Copy it to your clipboard or download it as a
.txtfile.
Why use this tool
It is free, requires no sign-up, and never adds watermarks. Your privacy is respected: uploaded PNGs are automatically deleted after processing, so nothing stays on a server. Since PNG, JPG, and other image types all run through the same OCR engine, you can count on consistent quality.
PNG is the default format for most screenshots, so the Screenshot to Text tool is a great match if that is your source. For photos, use JPG to Text, and if you want a formatted document instead of plain text, try PNG to Word.
Tips for best results
PNGs are often screenshots, so capture at full resolution rather than scaling a small image up. High contrast between text and background helps, and cropping to just the text region keeps the engine focused. If your screenshot has a dark theme, light-on-dark text usually still reads fine. For more techniques, see our guide on how to improve OCR accuracy.