Use Text capture on your Chromebook Plus
You can use Text capture to quickly copy text and get more actions based on the text you've selected on your screen. It can detect info, like event dates or contact information. You can also find more actions, like adding an event to your calendar or creating a contact.
What you need
To use this feature, make sure that:
- You use a Chromebook Plus device.
- You’re at least 18 years old.
- You read and accept the start up prompt. Learn about More actions.
- You’re located in one of the following countries:
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antarctica
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
- Botswana
- Brazil
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guernsey
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jersey
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea, Republic of
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Pitcairn
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Rwanda
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Türkiye
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States Minor Outlying Islands
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Virgin Islands (British)
- Virgin Islands (US)
- Wallis and Futuna
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
Use Text capture for text on your screen
To find actions based on your selection, use Text capture.
From the screenshot tool- On your Chromebook, select the time and then Screen capture.
- To capture a screenshot, select Partial screenshot .
- The method depends on your device.
- Select an area of the screen that contains the text you want to capture.
- Select More actions.
- Choose an action:
- To copy the text: Select Copy text.
- To perform another action: Learn how to use More actions.
- On your Chromebook, at the bottom left, select Launcher .
- Or, on your keyboard, press Launcher .
- Select the Lens .
- On your screen, select a region.
- You can find the results in the Google Search window.
- Below the selected region, you can find a list of more actions.
Use More actions
- Create contact: If Text capture detects contact information contained in the selected text, like email address and contact number, it creates a new Google contact.
- Create Google Doc: Creates a new Google Doc with the text from your selection.
- Create Google Sheet: If Text capture detects a table, it can create a Google Sheet from your selection.
- Copy with formatting: Copies the text and formatting from your selection.
- Add to Calendar: If Text capture detects an event's date and time, it can create a calendar event.
About More actions
When you use Text capture, the content from the selected area is sent to Google AI servers to suggest actions, subject to Google’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Do not include anything personal, sensitive, or confidential.
Generative AI is experimental, in early development, and currently has limited availability. You can turn this feature off at any time in the Settings.
Related resources
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