Optical character recognition
Also called: OCR
By HubAI editorial team · Source checked: 24 October 2026What does it mean?
Turning visible text in an image or scan into machine-readable text. It is a recognition step, not an assurance that the document’s meaning or figures have been understood correctly.
Picture this
A scanned receipt becomes text that an expense app can process. A smudged decimal point can still turn a reasonable amount into a very different number.
Where you’ll come across it
Invoices, scanned documents, accessibility and document search. Keep the original image available for checking important values.
What it doesn’t mean
Tables, handwriting, unusual fonts and poor scans can introduce errors. Validate key fields and avoid treating extracted text as a certified copy.
Check what the system actually captured
A short exercise · use fictional or non-sensitive material.
- Use a short sample you own or have permission to process. Avoid other people’s private recordings.
- Compare the output with the original, checking names, numbers, small print or unclear speech.
- Mark uncertain details rather than quietly filling them in. Check usage rights separately before publishing.
Would someone relying on this output notice the same uncertainty you did?
Did that make it clearer?
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Written and explained by HubAI. The reference below lets you go deeper; it is not an endorsement of a particular product.
Technical reference: learn.microsoft.com ↗