How to Find a Screenshot
by the Text on It

You took a screenshot because you knew you'd need it later. An error message, a tracking number, a Wi-Fi password, a price, a message someone sent you. Now you need it, and your Screenshots folder looks like this: Screenshot (412).png, Screenshot (413).png, Screenshot 2026-03-14 101522.png, and 2,000 more just like them.

You remember exactly what was in the screenshot. Windows only knows what it's called. Here's how to close that gap, from the manual approach to finding any screenshot in seconds by typing a word that was on the screen.

First: Where Windows Saves Screenshots

Before searching, make sure you're looking in the right places:

• Win+PrtScn and most Snipping Tool captures: Pictures\Screenshots
• PrtScn with OneDrive backup on: OneDrive\Pictures\Screenshots
• Game Bar (Win+Alt+PrtScn): Videos\Captures
• ShareX, Greenshot, Lightshot: their own folder, usually inside Documents or Pictures (check the app's settings)
• Screenshots from your phone: wherever your phone sync or photo import drops them

Method 1: Sort by Date and Scroll Thumbnails

If you remember roughly when you took the screenshot, this is the quickest thing to try.

Steps:

1. Press Win+E and go to Pictures > Screenshots
2. Switch to View > Large icons so you can actually read the thumbnails
3. Sort by Date modified
4. Type datemodified:last week or datemodified:3/2026 in the search box to narrow it down
5. Scroll and squint

For more date tricks, see how to find files by date modified.

Limitations:

• Only works if you remember when you took it
• Thumbnails are too small to read text, so you end up opening dozens of images
• Useless once you have more than a few hundred screenshots

Method 2: Upload Them to a Cloud Photo App

Some cloud photo services run text recognition on your images, so you can search for words that appear in them. If your screenshots are already backed up there, try searching for a word you remember.

Limitations:

• Every screenshot has to be uploaded to someone else's servers first
• Screenshots are some of the most sensitive files you own: bank balances, passwords, private chats, work documents, 2FA codes
• Desktop screenshots often aren't synced at all, only phone photos
• It only covers images, not the PDFs and documents where the same information might also live

Method 3: FileScope (Type What Was on the Screen)

FileScope scans the text inside every image in the folders you choose, using the OCR engine that's built into Windows. Then you search your screenshots the same way you'd search a document: by typing a word, number or phrase that was on the screen. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Steps:

1. Download and install FileScope
2. Add your screenshot folders: Pictures\Screenshots, OneDrive\Pictures\Screenshots, Downloads, and wherever your capture app saves
3. Let FileScope scan your images once (new screenshots are picked up automatically after that)
4. Press Ctrl+Space anywhere and type what you remember
5. Open the screenshot, open its folder, or copy its path

Searches that work:

• tracking number DHL finds the order confirmation you screenshotted instead of saving
• promo code finds the screenshot of that discount code you saved for later
• IBAN finds every screenshot that contains bank details, which is also a good way to find the ones you should delete

Advantages:

• Finds screenshots by what's in them, not what they're called
• Reads PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF and WebP
• Searches screenshots, PDFs, Word and Excel files from the same search bar, see how to search files by content
• Results in under a second, even with thousands of images
• 100% offline. Your screenshots never leave your PC. No cloud, no account

Want to know how OCR works under the hood and how to get the best results from it?
See how to search text in images with OCR.

Tips for Better Screenshot Search

• Search for the unusual words. An error code, an order number or a name will match far better than common words like "settings" or "total".
• Crop less, not more. A screenshot that includes the window title or page header gives you more text to search by later.
• Keep the default zoom. Very tiny text is harder for OCR to read. Normal-sized UI text and documents are read reliably.
• Stop renaming screenshots. With text search, Screenshot (2041).png is just as easy to find as a perfectly named file. The same goes for any document, see how to find a file without knowing the filename.

Comparison

Conclusion

If you know roughly when you took a screenshot and you only have a few dozen, sorting by date and scrolling thumbnails will do. Cloud photo apps can search the text, but only after you upload some of the most private images you have.

If screenshots are how you remember things, FileScope turns that pile of Screenshot (413).png files into something you can actually search. Type what was on the screen, get the screenshot, and everything stays on your computer.