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Tips & Tricks

Beginner

3 min read 4 stepsApril 19, 2026Verified April 2026

How to Use Live Text to Copy Text From Photos on iPhone

iPhone's Live Text feature reads text in any photo or through your camera and lets you copy it, look it up, or call a phone number — no typing required.

At a Glance

Enable Live Text (if not already on)

~25s

Go to SettingsGeneralLanguage & Region → make sure "Live Text" is toggled ON. On most iPhones running iOS 17 or later, this is enabled by default. Live Text works with text in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Live Text only works on iPhone XS (2018) and later. If your iPhone is older than that, the feature is not available regardless of iOS version.

Use Live Text through your camera

~26s

Open the Camera app and point your camera at any text — a sign, a business card, a menu, a label. A small, framed icon appears in the bottom right corner (it looks like lines of text inside a small box). Tap that icon. The camera pauses and recognized text is highlighted in yellow. Tap the highlighted text to: "Copy," "Look Up," "Translate," "Search the Web," or if it is a phone number, "Call" or "Add to Contacts."

Use Live Text on photos in your Photos app

~40s

Open any photo in the Photos app that contains text. Look for the Live Text icon (lines in a box) in the bottom right corner of the photo. Tap it to highlight all recognized text in yellow. Long-press on any highlighted text to select it and copy. Tap any recognized phone number to call it, any web address to open the website, or any email address to compose an email. This works on old photos and new ones alike.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Live Text also works in screenshots. If someone sends you a screenshot with an address or phone number in it, open it in Photos, tap Live Text, and tap the address to open it in Maps or the number to call it.

Use Live Text to translate signs and menus

~21s

When traveling or reading content in a foreign language, point your camera at foreign text and tap the Live Text icon. After Live Text highlights the text, tap "Translate" to translate it into English (or another language). This is built into iOS and does not require a separate translation app. It works for menus, signs, labels, and documents.

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Live Text is an iPhone feature that recognizes text in photos and through your camera. It works on iPhone XS and later, running iOS 17 or later. Point your camera at a business card, restaurant menu, sign, receipt, or whiteboard. Then tap to copy the text, call a phone number, open a website, or translate it — without typing a character.

Live Text also helps a great deal with accessibility. If someone sends you a photo with a phone number or address in it, you no longer have to type it out. You tap it instead. This guide explains how to use Live Text in the Camera app, the Photos app, and elsewhere.

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