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How to Copy Text on Screen (For All Platforms)

Knowing how to copy text on screen may come in handy when you want to save information from a website or a document for yourself or if you want to share it with other people. However, at times, it can be quite challenging and not as straightforward as it seems to be.  

This is because the process of copying text on screen may look different depending on what device and operating system you are using. Thus, in this article we will thoroughly explain how to copy text from screen on common operating systems and devices such as Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.

Keep on reading to get the most out of this guide!

Part 1. Copy Text on Screen on Windows 11/10/8/7

In this section, we will go over how to copy text on screen on Windows 11/10/8/7.

Our UPDF software and its advanced OCR tool will help you with this task. UPDF is one of the most user-friendly PDF editors available on the market. It includes many other tools such as editing, annotating and organizing tools that will take your PDFs to the next level.

Moreover, it includes AI Assistant, which is an impressive AI tool that can help you with generating ideas or checking your grammar.

You can download the software by clicking the button displayed below. Once you install it, you will be able to follow along and copy any text without a hassle.

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Step 1. The first thing you need to do on your Windows device is taking a screenshot of the screen by using the default screenshot feature. For instance, you can press "PrtSc" on your keyboard and draw to screenshot. Now, go to "Pictures" on your computer and find your screenshots.

Step 2. Once you find the screenshot, open it by dragging and dropping onto the UPDF's interface. Then navigate to the menu on the right side and choose the OCR tool.

Step 3. Choose "Text over the page image", your document language and click "Perform OCR". This tool will convert your screenshot into an editable document. Now, the OCRed PDF will open automatically, you will be able to copy the content from it directly by highlighting the content and hold on "Ctrl+C".

Part 2. Copy Any Text on the Screen on the Mac

Copying content from your screen on Mac is very quick and easy with UPDF. Download UPDF now to follow the steps below.

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UPDF's OCR feature can help you make any PDF editable, which in turn it will allow you to copy all essential information.

Step 1. Firstly, make sure that the contents you want to copy, for example, a particular page or a file, are open on your Mac. Then open UPDF and minimize it. Navigate to the menu located at the top and go to "File" > "Create" > "PDF from Selection Capture" or PDF from Window Capture" or "PDF from Screen Capture".

Step 2. Once you select this, a screen capture will be created. Now select the "OCR" tool from the menu on the right to make the document editable. Select "Searchable PDF" and "Text over the page image", a document language and click "Perform OCR". Once the tool finishes converting it, the editable screenshot will open automatically in UPDF and you can copy the text.

Remember to download UPDF to try this feature by yourself! And if you like this tool after testing, you can click here to upgrade to UPDF pro version with big discount.

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Part 3. Copy Text on Screen on iPhone/iPad

You can copy text on iPhone/iPad in 2 ways.

The default way is by taking an image of the content or a screenshot. Then you need to hold the image and highlight the text you want to copy from it and click "Copy". If you want to copy all of it, remember to click "Select all" or drag the blue dot and highlight the chosen text before copying.

The second way is by using our UPDF software for iOS that can be downloaded from the App Store. Here is the guide.

Step 1. Simply, open the UPDF application and click the "+" icon in the bottom right corner. Import your photo or a screenshot by clicking "Photos" or "Files".

Step 2. Once your screenshot is uploaded, click the three dots that are next to it.

Step 3. Then select "Convert to PDF". Now your file will open as PDF.

Step 4. Hold the image, click the arrow ">" to go through the options until you see "OCR". Select the "OCR" option to make the PDF editable.

Step 5. Now you will be able to copy the content directly from the PDF and save it.

You may feel confused why to use UPDF for iOS when the default method can work well. The reason is that UPDF for iOS has many other features like AI Assistant, edit PDF, organize PDF, and more. Watch the below video to check all its features.

Part 4. Copy Any Text on Any Screen on Android

Now we will show you how to copy text on screen by using Android device. You can copy text from any screen using your Android phone, however, to do that you need to use the "Google Lens" application. This app can be downloaded from the Play Store.

Steps: Once you have your app downloaded, open it and select the "Text" tab. Position the screen and your phone in a way that the content is within the phone's frame and take a photo. All of the text that the photo contains will be highlighted. Click "Select all" and then "Copy text" to copy it. Now you will be able to save it in your notes for later.

Part 5. Copy Text on Screen Online

One of the alternative ways of copying text on screen is using an online software that can extract text. This option is recommended to use when you have a screenshot of the screen but you cannot copy text directly from it. Moreover, this is a great solution if you don't want to download any software to your device because of limited storage. Or if you simply need to use it once as a quick fix.

Steps: Just navigate to brandfolder and drag an image or document that you want to extract text from. Wait for the extraction to be completed. Once it's completed, just click "Copy text". Now paste the text in your document or save it for later.

Ending Note:

We hope that this comprehensive guide solved your problems with copying text on any screen. We showed you various solutions such as copying text from screen on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and by using online tools. Download UPDF to take the most out of this article and try using its different tools to edit your PDFs. We are sure that you can take your PDFs to the next level. Don't wait - streamline your work and save time with UPDF.   

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