How to find text inside your screenshots on Android

1. Know where your screenshots live

Android saves screenshots in a Screenshots folder, usually inside Pictures or DCIM. In Google Photos you’ll find it under Collections (or Library on older versions) → Screenshots. On Samsung phones, open Gallery → Albums → Screenshots. Searching or scrolling inside this folder keeps your camera photos out of the results.

2. Search by word in Google Photos

Google Photos can find text in pictures. Tap Search and type a word that appears in the screenshot — a shop name, “invoice”, a street, part of an email address. Screenshots containing that word show up in the results.

• Pick a distinctive word. “Lisbon” finds one booking; “ticket” finds hundreds.
• Try a second word if the first one fails — the one you remember may be spelled differently in the image.
• Search is most reliable for screenshots that are backed up. If backup is off, results can be thin.

3. Copy the text with Google Lens

Once you’ve found the screenshot, open it in Google Photos and tap Lens. You can select and copy the text, translate it, search for it, or tap a phone number or address directly. On many phones a Copy text suggestion appears by itself when a screenshot is mostly text.

4. On Samsung: use the text button in Gallery

On recent Samsung phones, open a screenshot in Gallery and tap the T icon that appears when the image contains text. It highlights everything readable, so you can copy a code or an address without retyping it.

5. Help your future self

A little effort now makes screenshots far easier to find later:

• Add a description in Google Photos (open the screenshot and swipe up). “Gym locker code” will find an image that never says so.
• Put keepers in albums — Travel, Shopping, Documents — so you can browse instead of searching.
• Favorite the few you open again and again.

Why text search sometimes misses

If a screenshot you’re sure exists doesn’t show up, it’s usually one of these:

• The text is small, blurry or stylized, or sits on a busy background.
• The word was cut off at the edge of the screenshot.
• The screenshot isn’t backed up yet.
• It’s in a different language than the word you typed.

In that case, narrow it down by date instead: scroll the Screenshots folder to the week you think you took it.

Tip: When you screenshot something you’ll need again — a confirmation number, a Wi-Fi password — add a one-word description right away. It takes three seconds and saves a search later.

An easier way to keep every word findable

VisiKeep, coming soon to Android, reads the text in every screenshot right on your phone — no backup needed, so search works even for screenshots that never leave it. Type any word and the screenshot is there. VisiKeep also sorts your screenshots into collections like Travel, Shopping and Work, spots dates and offers reminders, and works in English, Español, Deutsch, Italiano and Français. Your originals stay in your gallery.