OCR (optical character recognition) is technology that reads the text in images and scans and turns it into text a computer can search and edit.
In plain words
A photo of a page is just pixels to a computer. OCR finds where the letters are and works out which characters they are, producing ordinary text. Modern OCR handles printed and handwritten text, and document tools go further by also pulling out forms and tables so their structure is kept.
A quick example
You photograph a paper receipt. An OCR service returns the shop name, the items and the total as text, so an expenses app can fill in the amount automatically instead of you typing it.
Where you'll meet it
- Scanning documents, receipts and forms.
- Reading street and traffic signs in photos.
Related
Sources
- DocsDetect text in images, Google Cloud Vision documentation · read 29 Sept 2026
- DocsWhat is Amazon Textract?, AWS documentation · read 29 Sept 2026
Checked by WhatIsAI against the sources above · 29 Sept 2026. Spotted an error? Report it.