Guide
Local OCR vs cloud OCR: what happens to your screenshot?
Local OCR reads an image on your device; cloud OCR sends it to a remote service. A local browser tool can still download its recognition software and language model. That download is different from uploading your screenshot.
Compare the data movement
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The public tool’s local workflow
A chosen image is decoded and processed in the browser. The recognition worker returns editable text in the same tab. You choose whether to copy or download that text.
English recognition software and language data are fetched when needed. The tool does not transmit the image or recognized text to an OCR service.
Cloud OCR requires a provider decision
A cloud recognizer receives image data to perform the task. Check the provider’s retention, access, processing region and account settings before sending material that has handling restrictions.
Do not infer a provider’s practices from the word AI or from the fact that the interface runs in a browser. Google Lens explicitly documents sending page screenshots and page data for its page-search workflow.
Compare accuracy using the same input
Use the same image and score the fields your task actually needs. A correctly recognized heading may conceal errors in a money amount or long identifier.
Record missing words, substitutions and reading order separately. There is no accuracy ranking in this guide because no cross-provider benchmark was performed.
Keep OCR separate from storage and sharing
Local recognition does not make a previously uploaded capture local-only. Paid cloud sync can automatically upload a newly taken capture when enabled in extension settings; copying OCR text into a cloud document is another action.
Review the resulting text as well as the image. It can expose the same names, keys and account details.