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OCR Translator for PC

Lexa is a screen translator for Windows. It reads text from your games, apps, scans and videos and shows the translation beside it. No copying or pasting, even when the text can’t be selected.

Get it on Microsoft Store Direct download (.exe)

Free to use on Windows 10 and 11.

Lexa Realtime mode translating Japanese visual novel dialogue into English in a panel beside the game
A line from the clip above, reproduced on this page so you can select it. In the game it was only pixels, so Lexa read it from the screen.

On screen (Japanese)

セージ

「ん？　俺達の雇い主は大学を卒業したばかりの女の子だと聞いてるぞ？」

In Lexa’s panel

Sage

Hmm? I heard that our employer is a girl who has just graduated from university.

Text you can see but can’t select

Games, apps and videos often draw their words as pixels, so there is nothing to highlight, copy or paste into a translator. Lexa reads the pixels instead. Three real captures:

Visual novel dialogue · Realtime

Aiどう、これ？

Close-up of a visual novel dialogue box inside Lexa’s violet Realtime frame: the speaker “Ai” and the line “どう、これ？”

Lexa’s translation:What do you think of this?

The Realtime frame sits on the dialogue box. Each time the line changes, Lexa reads it again and the panel shows the new translation. Use it to follow dialogue as it changes, or subtitles shown in a video.

Reading visual novels? See the visual novel translator 

Game settings menu · Watch

フルスクリーン

Close-up of a Japanese game settings menu: Lexa highlights the label “フルスクリーン” and a tooltip below reads “Full screen”.

Lexa’s translation:Full screen

Hover a label and its translation appears in a tooltip beside it, with the original underneath. No retyping words in a writing system you can’t read.

How to translate game text 

Spreadsheet in a desktop app · Watch

SALDO INICIAL

Close-up of a Portuguese budget chart: Lexa highlights the label “SALDO INICIAL” and a tooltip below reads “INITIAL BALANCE”.

Lexa’s translation:INITIAL BALANCE

Desktop software works the same way. There is no add-on for the app; Lexa only reads what is on screen.

Anything else · Cursor Ctrl+Alt+F7

A scanned PDF, text inside an image, a dialog in desktop software.

Drag a box around just that text and read the translation in a small window.

Choose the mode by how the text behaves

Lexa reads the screen in three ways. All three sit on the Lexa toolbar, and each has its own shortcut.

The text keeps changing in one place

UseRealtimeCtrl+Alt+F8

Dialogue boxes and subtitles. Put the frame over the text once. Lexa reads again only when the text inside changes, and the panel shows the latest lines.

The words stay put, all over the screen

UseWatchCtrl+Alt+F5

Menus, settings, buttons and item names. Hover a label and a tooltip translates it, with the original underneath. Move to the next label and it follows.

You need one passage, once

UseCursorCtrl+Alt+F7

A paragraph in a scan, a caption inside an image, a message in a dialog. Drag a box around it and read the translation in a small window that closes when you’re done.

Lexa Realtime mode on a Japanese visual novel: the Realtime frame surrounds Fennel’s dialogue box, and the panel at the top left shows the original line and its English translation, “Is it the employer’s preference? It seems like he has a good taste in matters related to this.”
The violet frame sits on the dialogue box. When the line changes, the panel at the top left shows the new translation, with the original above it.

It works over your apps, not inside them

Lexa reads what your screen shows, so the program with the text doesn’t need to support translation, or even know Lexa is there.

Check this first: exclusive fullscreen

If a game runs in exclusive fullscreen, Lexa can’t show its toolbar or translations over it. Switch the game to Borderless Fullscreen or Windowed mode first.

No add-on for each app

Lexa reads text from what is displayed, so there is nothing to install in each browser, PDF viewer, video player or game. The text only has to be visible and legible on screen.

Your software stays untouched

Lexa doesn’t inject code, install plugins or modify files. Its toolbar floats above your windows instead.

Results stay out of your way

Each mode’s result window stays on top of your app without taking focus from it. Realtime’s panel can be moved and resized.

From install to your first translation

No API keys or config files.

  1. Step 1: Install Lexa and create an account

    Get it from the Microsoft Store or with the Windows installer (.exe). It runs on Windows 10 and 11.

  2. Step 2: Tell Lexa where to look

    Open the game, browser tab, PDF, video or app with the text. In Lexa, pick the source and target languages, keep Current screen or select that app’s window, then open the Lexa toolbar.

  3. Step 3: Point it at the text

    Drag the Realtime frame over text that changes, hover labels with Watch, or box one passage with Cursor.

    • RealtimeCtrl+Alt+F8
    • WatchCtrl+Alt+F5
    • CursorCtrl+Alt+F7

Under the hood

What happens between the pixels and the translation, and what changes when you use Cloud.

Four stages, every mode

By default all four run on your PC. With Cloud (Pro, experimental), reading and translating move off your PC, which can help when local translation feels heavy. You choose in Settings.

Where each stage runs, on this device and with Cloud
StageDefaultWith Cloud
CaptureThe frame, window or box you choseYour PCYour PC
ReadFinds and reads the text (OCR)Your PCCloud
TranslateInto your languageYour PCCloud
ShowPanel, tooltip or small windowYour PCYour PC

What Cloud receives

Only what the mode needs. Capturing the screen and showing the result stay on your PC.

Realtime
The area inside its frame, plus the speaker name area if you set one.
Watch
The text you hover, or the text areas you group by holding the grouping shortcut. Finding text in the window stays on your PC.
Cursor
Only the box you drew.

Languages

22

Languages to choose from, for the text on screen and the translation, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

Change detection

Realtime keeps watching the area inside its frame, but only reads and translates again when the text there changes. That holds on your PC and with Cloud.

Resource use

Local capture and OCR are tuned to stay light, but speed and how much CPU and memory Lexa uses depend on your PC and on what else is running, such as a demanding game. On a weaker PC, Cloud can take reading and translation off your computer. It needs an internet connection and available capacity.

Before you install

Common questions about using Lexa as an OCR translator on your PC.

An OCR translator uses Optical Character Recognition to read text directly from your screen and convert it into another language. Because it reads what is displayed, it also works when the text cannot be selected, copied, or highlighted.

Lexa reads text from the pixels on your screen, so it works with many Windows programs that show readable text, including browsers, desktop apps, video players, PDF viewers, image editors and games, without per-app plugins or extensions. The text has to be visible and legible on screen. If a game or app runs in exclusive fullscreen, Lexa cannot show its toolbar or translations over it, so switch it to Borderless Fullscreen or Windowed mode first.

In Realtime, Lexa keeps watching the area inside its frame and only reads and translates again when the text there changes. How quickly a translation appears depends on your PC and on what else is running. Cloud (Pro, experimental) can move reading and translation off your computer.

Not by default: Lexa reads and translates on your PC. If you turn on Cloud (Pro, experimental), only what each mode needs is sent for reading and translation: the area inside the Realtime frame, the text you hover in Watch, or the box you draw in Cursor. Capturing the screen and showing the result always stay on your PC.

No. Lexa is a standalone Windows application. It does not inject code, install plugins, or modify the software you are translating.

Yes. Start Realtime and place its frame over the area where subtitles appear. Lexa reads each line shown on screen and translates it as it changes, including captions burned into the video.

Yes. Lexa translates text shown in game windows, such as dialogue, menus and item names. If you mostly read visual novels, the visual novel translator page covers that workflow in more detail.

Point it at the text

Install Lexa, open the thing you couldn’t read, and start with Realtime, Watch or Cursor. Everything runs on your PC unless you choose Cloud.

Get it on Microsoft StoreRecommended, with Store updatesDirect downloadWindows installer (.exe)

Free to use on Windows 10 and 11.