Live Text recognizes text within your photos, videos, and images you find online. You can interact with this text in multiple ways. You can select text to copy, share, or translate, or you can use quick actions to perform tasks like making a phone call, opening a website, or converting currencies.
You can use Live Text in Safari, Photos, Camera, Quick Look, and more. But before you start, make sure Live Text is turned on for all supported languages.
Here’s how to interact with content in a photo or video on iPhone.
Note: Live Text isn’t available in all regions or languages.
Turn on Live Text
Make sure Live Text is turned on for all supported languages before you start using it.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap General and tap Language & Region.
- Turn on Live Text.
Copy, translate, and look up text in a photo or video
- Open a photo or pause a video that contains text.
- Tap the Detect Text button and then touch and hold the selected text.
- Use the grab points to select specific text. Then do any of the following:
- Copy Text: Copy text to paste into another app such as Notes or Messages.
- Select All: Select all the text within the frame.
- Look Up: Show personalized web suggestions.
- Translate: Translate text.
- Search the web: Look up the selected text on the web.
- Share: Share text using AirDrop, Messages, Mail, or other available options.
- Tap the Selected Detect Text button to return to the photo or video.
Perform tasks within a photo or video with quick actions
Depending on the content of the photo or video, you can tap a quick action at the bottom of the screen to do things like make a phone call, get directions, translate languages, convert currencies, and more.
- Open a photo or pause a video that contains text.
- Tap the Detect Text button.
- Tap a quick action at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap the Selected Detect Text button to return to the photo or video.
