Image & Screenshot Help
How to Copy & Translate Chinese Text
How to Copy & Translate Chinese Text
From Photos and Screenshots
Chinese text in a photo or screenshot does not have to stay trapped in the image. Most current phones and computers can use OCR (optical character recognition) to recognize the characters so you can copy, translate, look up or save them. Choose your device below and follow the steps.
Want to translate an image directly?
Google Translate
lets you upload a photo or screenshot and translate the text in the
image using its Images feature.
iPhone or iPad
- Open the Photos app and select the photo or screenshot containing the Chinese text.
- Touch and hold a Chinese word, then drag the selection handles to highlight the text you want. You can also tap the Live Text button to recognize the text in the image.
-
Choose what you want to do with the recognized text:
- Copy selected text: Tap Copy, then paste it into a dictionary, translator, notes or another app.
- Copy all recognized text: Tap Select All, then Copy.
- Translate the selected text: Tap Translate, then choose the language you want if prompted.
If Live Text does not appear:
Open Settings → General → Language & Region
and make sure Live Text is turned on.
Android
- Open the Google app and tap the Google Lens icon in the search bar.
- Take a new photo, or choose an existing photo or screenshot from Screenshots or All images.
- Tap the Chinese text, or drag the corners of the selection box around the text you want. Then tap Select text.
-
Choose what you want to do with the selected text:
- Copy it: Tap Copy, then paste it into a dictionary, translator, notes, or another app.
- Translate it: Tap Translate, then choose the language you want if needed.
- Hear it: Tap Listen to have the text read aloud.
- Search it: Tap Search to look up the selected text with Google.
Already viewing the image in Google Photos? Open the photo or screenshot, tap More, then Google Lens. You can then select the Chinese text and choose what you want to do with it.
Windows
- Open the photo, screenshot, or image containing the Chinese text, then press Windows + Shift + S.
- Drag around the part of the image that contains the text. When the snip appears, open it in Snipping Tool.
- Select Text actions. This activates OCR (optical character recognition), allowing Snipping Tool to detect the text in the image.
- Select and copy the Chinese text you want, or choose Copy all text to copy everything Snipping Tool recognizes.
- Paste the copied Chinese into your preferred dictionary, translator, notes, or another app.
Privacy note:
Snipping Tool performs its text recognition locally on your device, so the image does not need to be uploaded elsewhere for OCR.
Mac
- Open the photo or screenshot in Preview.
- Drag over the Chinese text you want to select. If you cannot select the text, choose Tools → Text Selection and try again.
-
Choose what you want to do with the selected text:
- Copy it: Right-click or Control-click the selected text and choose Copy Text. Then paste it into a dictionary, translator, notes, or another app.
- Translate it: Right-click or Control-click the selected text and choose Translate, then choose the language you want if prompted.
Need more than copy or translate?
After selecting the Chinese text in Preview, you can also use Look Up to check for a definition or search the web for more information.
Helpful Tips
- Use the clearest image possible. Small, blurry, angled, decorative or poorly lit text is more likely to be recognized incorrectly.
- Check the Chinese before relying on the translation. OCR can occasionally misread a character, and one incorrect character can change the meaning of a word or sentence.
- Crop or zoom in when necessary. Giving the tool a smaller area of text can make selection easier, especially on busy screenshots, comics, menus or game screens.
