Google Lens can now copy handwritten notes and paste it as text to computer

The days of typing your handwritten notes could be gone with a new feature on Google Lens.

Lens is an image recognition technology from Google used to learn information about people, places or objects around you. It can also scan and translate text.

The technology has been able to copy and paste handwritten text to a phone. It has since been updated to do the same function but instead transfer the text to a laptop or computer, Google announced in a May 7 blog.

After scanning the text on paper with Lens, users can select the option “copy to computer.” This will send the text for pasting to another device signed in to Chrome.

After scanning text on paper (left), Google Lens has the option to “copy to computer” so that the notes can be pasted to a laptop or computer. Image: Google

One caveat is that your notes should be neatly written so that Lens can properly recognize it. Both the device scanning the text and the device receiving it must be signed into the same Google account for the feature to work. The computer should also have the latest version of Chrome.

Using Lens, one can now also scan text and hear it read aloud with the “Listen” feature. The machine learning technology can also pull up Google search results after a complex phrase or word is selected on paper.

Lens is available for download on iOS and Android devices. JB

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