In October 2024, Microsoft announced some upgrades to the Windows Photos app in Windows 11. Copilot+ PC users received a built-in image upscaler, while all the other users with "traditional" computers got optical character recognition (OCR) support. However, in November, Microsoft paused the rollout to improve the feature, and it is now finally back for testing.
In the now-updated announcement post from October 2024, Microsoft notified users that OCR support in the Windows Photos app is once again available to Windows 11 insiders across all channels. Besides re-enabling the feature, Microsoft addressed some issues and bugs. The OCR button is now on display all the time (even if there is no text on the image), plus you can enjoy a sweet animation when the Photos app scans your image (same as in Paint and Snipping Tool).
Here is the announcement:
UPDATE: We are beginning to roll out OCR support in the Photos app again to Windows Insiders on Windows 11 across all Insider Channels. We’ve made some improvements to the experience. The OCR button has been updated and will show up for every image. If the image does not have any text, there will be a notice letting you know OCR can’t be run on the image. We’ve also added a loading animation too. Let us know what you think!
Microsoft won't say when OCR will be available outside the Insider Program, so stay tuned for future announcements. Meanwhile, you can OCR your images using the Snipping Tool: press Win + Shift + S, select your image, and click the "Text Action" button."
In case you missed it, this week, Microsoft released a new Windows 11 preview build from the Canary Channel. The company is testing some notable changes, especially for musicians and those frequently using OneDrive across devices. You can learn more about it here.
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