Has it happened to you that you have a picture that you want to convert to text in Excel or Word? While it can sometimes be necessary to extract important text from an image, it can be tedious.
However, when you convert the image to Excel, data becomes more accessible and it gets easier for you to make appropriate entries in a table. We’ll guide you through the process in today’s blog.
How to Convert Image to Excel in Mobile
You can easily convert an image to text on Canva and other similar apps. Moreover, on Apple and Samsung devices, it’s very convenient to extract text from any image and paste it anywhere desired.
However, to convert it directly to Excel on your phone:
1. Open MS Excel on your phone, tap + Create on the right, and then on the Excel icon.
2. Tap on Scan Table, and select the picture you want to convert.
You can take a new photo or choose one from your gallery.
3. Tap and drag the handles to adjust the selection and crop the picture to include only the table you want to convert.
4. Once done, tap on Continue. Excel will try to detect the table structure and cell values automatically.
5. Review the table preview and if it looks good, tap Open.
6. You can adjust cell values, add or delete rows and columns, and format the table style directly in Excel, and then Save the file.
How to Extract Data from Image to Excel on a PC
Here are the methods to get your data from an image to your Excel sheet on your PC:
Method 1: Directly from Excel
You can extract and arrange your data into Excel tables directly.
Note: As this option is not available in all Excel versions, do visit Microsoft Support and check the requirements. You can also use Microsoft Teams for the same if you don’t have this feature in your Excel.
1. Open your Excel workbook and place your image file somewhere convenient, like the Desktop.
2. Click the Data tab, head to the Get & Transform Data group, and choose Data from Picture.
3. Browse for your image and click Open. Now, wait until Excel analyzes the image for data and highlights potentially recognizable cells.
4. If all looks good, click Insert Data. If Excel needs a hand, click Review. Review each highlighted cell and confirm or correct the extracted data.
Your extracted data will be neatly inserted into an Excel table.
Method 2: Third-Party Tools
If the Data from Picture feature doesn’t work well for your image, consider using free or paid third-party software to convert text to image in Excel or Word.
- FreeOCR: A simple and free tool for extracting text from images.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC: Offers advanced OCR capabilities and document editing features.
- ABBYY FineReader: A powerful tool for processing complex images and documents.
How to Convert Picture to Text in Word Online for Free
In order to convert your picture to text on Microsoft Word, follow the methods:
Method 1: From Word Itself
You can use MS Word online to convert images o texts.
1. Head over to MS Word and click on Blank document to start a new Word file.
2. Click Insert, choose Pictures, and then select the option This Device.
3. Select your image file from your computer or cloud storage.
4. Once uploaded go to File again, select Save as, and from Save as type, select the docs type to PDF.
5. After that follow the steps mentioned in Method 1 under the heading How to Convert PDF Image to Text Microsoft Word.
Method 2: Use Google Drive
You can use this Google Drive trick also to convert pictures into text. Just follow these steps:
1. On Google Drive, drag and drop or upload your image to your Drive.
2. Right-click on the image, choose Open with, and select Google Docs.
Google Docs will automatically extract the text from your image and create a new editable document.
3. Click on File, go to Download, and choose Microsoft Word (.docx) to save the text in Word format.
How to Convert PDF Image to Text Microsoft Word
Here are 2 easy methods that you can try to convert your PDF image to text:
Method 1: Using Word itself
Follow the steps below:
1. In Microsoft Word, click on Insert, then on Pictures, select This Device to upload the PDF image that you want to convert into text.
2. Select the PDF that you have created earlier. Click on OK on the pop-up that appears on the screen.
Now the pdf image will be converted into text.
Method 2: Using Online OCR Tools (Free and Paid)
You can use any third-party OCR tool such as Smallpdf, Adobe Acrobat Pro DC online, or Free Online OCR to easily convert an image to text.
1. Choose your preferred online OCR tool. We have chosen Smallpdf here.
2. Choose PDF to Word as the output format, click on Choose files, and upload the PDF that you want to convert.
3. Click the Convert or Start button and wait for the processed file. Download the converted Word document.
4. Open the downloaded file in Word and review/edit the text as needed.
We hope our guide helped you rightly convert a picture to text in Excel and Word. If you have any queries or suggestions for us, do let us know in our email.
