Microsoft has just rolled out to Insiders an update to its Screen Capture Tool. This now includes an OCR module allowing you to extract the text from your screenshots.
The Windows 11 Screen Capture Tool is getting ready to welcome new features. Microsoft is in fact testing with its Insider members a new version of the application which includes several new features. The utility can now extract text displayed on your screenshots, but also hide sensitive information using a dedicated module.
New editing tools for screenshots
Updated to version 11.2308.33.0 among Insiders, the Screenshot Tool introduces a new editing tool “ Text Actions “. This, made up of several modules, is responsible, when activated, for detecting all the text boxes present on the screenshot you have just taken. In other words, the Windows 11 Screenshot Tool now includes an optical character recognition (OCR) system. With it, you can copy all of the detected text for use elsewhere, for example by pasting it into a document.
But Microsoft didn’t stop there. To perfect the Screen Capture Tool, the Redmond firm has also included in “ Text Actions », a tool called in English “ Redacttext “. Contrary to what its poor translation by Microsoft suggests, this tool allows you to hide certain information displayed. The module is thus able to identify all the email addresses and telephone numbers on its own to blur it (or rather hide it under a black highlight).
However, you can take control of it in order to hide all the sensitive information you want. To do this, you will need to select the text in question, then right-click on the document (when the Text Actions function is activated, obviously), or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+R to hide the information. While these new editing tools are welcome, it is unfortunate that Microsoft does not allow you to customize the color used to hide sensitive information.
Connected mobile edits photos from your smartphone in Windows
The other new feature unveiled by Microsoft concerns the Connected Mobile application. The update stamped 1.23082.123.0 currently being tested with Insiders now displays a notification in Windows 11 as soon as it detects a new photo captured by your smartphone.
The goal ? Suggest you edit photos stored on your smartphone directly from your PC. Not sure, however, that this will delight users…
Source :
Microsoft