Quick Summary: 📝
Text Grab is a C# Windows utility that uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to extract and copy text from any visible content on the screen. It leverages the Windows API for local OCR processing, offering multiple modes for flexible text capture without requiring a constant background process.
Key Takeaways: 💡
✅ Text Grab uses local Windows OCR API for fast, resource-light text extraction from images and non-selectable areas.
✅ It solves the common developer frustration of copying trapped text found in screenshots, videos, or legacy applications.
✅ Features multiple modes, including Full-Screen selection and a persistent, transparent Grab Frame, enhancing workflow flexibility.
✅ The project is highly reliable, serving as the foundational technology for the official PowerToys Text Extractor utility.
✅ Installation is simple via Microsoft Store, Scoop, or Chocolatey, making it easy to integrate into any Windows development environment.
Project Statistics: 📊
- ⭐ Stars: 4481
- 🍴 Forks: 288
- ❗ Open Issues: 103
Tech Stack: 💻
- ✅ C#
Have you ever stared at a screenshot, a protected PDF, or even a paused video frame and desperately wished you could copy that text? We all know the frustration of text being visually available but digitally inaccessible. That's exactly the headache Text Grab eliminates. This project is a minimalist Optical Character Recognition (OCR) utility designed specifically for Windows users (10/11) that acts like a digital siphon, extracting "trapped" text and dropping it straight into your clipboard. It’s the ultimate productivity hack for dealing with non-selectable content.
The genius of Text Grab lies in its simplicity and efficiency. It doesn't rely on heavy cloud services or constantly running background processes. When you activate it, it takes a momentary screenshot of the area you define. This image is then processed instantly using the native Windows OCR API extemdash meaning the recognition happens locally on your machine. The result? Lightning-fast text extraction without hogging system resources. Because the heavy lifting is done by the Windows API, the application itself remains incredibly lightweight and almost UI-less until you need it.
Text Grab offers more than just basic screen capture. Its primary and most powerful feature is the Full-Screen Mode, which allows you to define a precise region to scan, or even better, simply click on a visible word to copy just that word. This is possible because the OCR engine intelligently draws bounding boxes around recognized words. This flexibility is what made it the basis for the official PowerToys Text Extractor.
For more persistent tasks, there's the Grab Frame Mode. Imagine a transparent, resizable window you can place over a specific application area, like a terminal or a table, letting you continuously monitor and grab text without cluttering your main screen. You can search within the frame or click the Grab button to capture the text instantly. This multi-mode approach ensures you have the right tool for any text extraction scenario.
For developers, time is precious, and manual transcription is a productivity killer. Whether you're pulling error codes from a non-selectable log window, documenting API responses shown in an image, or copying text from a UI mockup, Text Grab saves countless keystrokes and prevents typos. It integrates seamlessly into your Windows workflow, installing easily via the Microsoft Store, GitHub Releases, or package managers like Scoop and Chocolatey. It’s a small utility with a massive impact on daily efficiency that every Windows developer should have in their toolkit.
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Top comments (1)
#cis the tag only for C. You want#csharp. Please fix.