How to Search Text Inside Screenshots on Windows 11

Screenshots are the fastest way to save something and the slowest way to find it again. Windows names them Screenshot 2026-10-12 140311.png, and nothing on your PC searches the words inside them.

Here are 4 ways to search text in screenshots on Windows 11, from copying text out of one screenshot to searching all of them at once.

1. Snipping Tool: copy text from one screenshot

Windows 11's Snipping Tool can read the text in a screenshot. Open the screenshot in Snipping Tool, click Text actions (the icon in the toolbar), and the text becomes selectable. You can copy all of it or just the part you need, and there's a Quick redact option for emails and phone numbers.

Good for: grabbing a code, an address or a table from one screenshot. Not for: finding which screenshot has the thing you're looking for.

2. PowerToys Text Extractor: copy text from anything on screen

Microsoft PowerToys (free) includes Text Extractor. Press Win + Shift + T, drag a box over any text on screen, and it's on your clipboard. It works on screenshots, videos paused on a frame, and apps that won't let you select text.

Again, it's one screenshot at a time, and you have to open it first.

3. Photos app: find text in your library

The Photos app in Windows 11 recognises text in pictures and has started letting you search for it, depending on your version. Open Photos, type a word in the search box, and see whether it finds screenshots containing it. Results vary by build, and it only covers folders Photos knows about.

4. Trailback: search every screenshot by its text, offline

Trailback reads the text in every screenshot you take and makes all of it searchable, along with your files, PDFs and the web pages you visit. Type what you remember:

• "screenshot with the pricing table"
• "the error message from yesterday"
• "receipt from the hardware shop"

It finds the right screenshot in under a second, shows the matching words, and opens it. It also finds amounts, dates and order numbers inside screenshots, so a receipt is found by the total.

Privacy: everything runs on your PC. Nothing is uploaded, there's no account, and passwords and card numbers are skipped. It works on Windows 10 and 11, and on Mac, for $19 one-time.

Tips for screenshots you can find later

• Take screenshots with Win + Shift + S. They go to the clipboard and to Pictures → Screenshots, so they're in one place.
• Don't rely on file names. The text inside the screenshot is the better handle, which is why text search matters.
• Blur before sharing. Trailback's Media Tools can blur card numbers, emails and phone numbers in a screenshot before you send it.

Written by Pavan GK

Pavan is the founder of Trailback, a private, offline app for Mac and Windows that helps you find anything on your computer by describing it. He builds it at Hara Infotech in Hyderabad.