--- title: "Is there an app that converts handwriting to text?" url: https://isthereathing.com/an-app-that-converts-handwriting-to-text/ answer: "yes" summary: "Yes. MyScript Notes, Goodnotes and OneNote on Windows turn pen handwriting into typed text, and Transkribus reads scans of old handwritten documents. Most need a pen and tablet, a Windows pen device or a paid plan for full use." category: "Documents, spreadsheets & email" published: 2026-10-06 updated: 2026-10-06 author: "Jack Stovell" publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve Limited" language: en-GB --- # Is there an app that converts handwriting to text? **Answer: yes.** Yes. MyScript Notes, Goodnotes and OneNote on Windows turn pen handwriting into typed text, and Transkribus reads scans of old handwritten documents. Most need a pen and tablet, a Windows pen device or a paid plan for full use. (Source: [MyScript Notes on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nebo-notes-pdf-annotations/id1119601770)) Yes. MyScript Notes, Goodnotes and OneNote on Windows turn pen handwriting into typed text, and Transkribus reads scans of old handwritten documents. Most need a pen and tablet, a Windows pen device or a paid plan for full use, so which one suits you depends on what you write with and what you are trying to read. ## The shortlist ### MyScript Notes (formerly Nebo) A handwriting note app (still called Nebo on Windows) that converts handwriting and maths to typed text and drawn diagrams to clean shapes. - Link: https://www.nebo.app/ - Free tier: yes. 7-day free trial, then you can keep a free limited version, per its UK App Store and Google Play listings. - Paid from: not checked (not verified: UK App Store lists in-app purchases from £1.99 to £29.99, with what each buys and any period not stated) - Best at: Handwriting recognition in 66 languages, with pen gestures for editing as you write. - The catch: Full features need an in-app purchase after a 7-day free trial, and the UK App Store lists purchases from £1.99 to £29.99 without saying which unlocks what. Its Chat and study set AI features are iOS only for now. - Platforms: ios, android, mac, windows - Source: [MyScript Notes (formerly Nebo)](https://www.nebo.app/) ### Goodnotes A digital notebook and PDF markup app that mixes handwriting and typed text, on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android and the web. - Link: https://www.goodnotes.com/ - Free tier: yes. Goodnotes' pricing page lists a Free plan, free forever, with 3 notebooks and 100MB storage. - Paid from: £11.99 per year (Essential) (UK App Store in-app purchases, checked 2026-10-02; Pro (Yearly) £35.99, AI Pass (Monthly) £9.99) - Best at: Everyday handwritten notes: Goodnotes' own site says you can write, cross out to erase, or convert to text, and its pricing page lists converting handwriting to text. - The catch: The free plan is limited to 3 notebooks and 100MB of storage, and the pricing text we could read does not say which plans include handwriting conversion. - Platforms: ios, mac, windows, android, web - Source: [Goodnotes homepage](https://www.goodnotes.com/) ### Microsoft OneNote Microsoft's free note app, whose Ink to Text button on Windows turns a lasso-selected block of handwriting into typed text on the page. - Link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/take-handwritten-notes-in-onenote-0ec88c54-05f3-4cac-b452-9ee62cebbd4c - Free tier: yes. Microsoft says all supported versions of OneNote are free to download and use, with some premium features unlocked by an optional Microsoft 365 subscription; it does not say whether Ink to Text is one of them. - Paid from: £8.49 per month (Microsoft 365 Personal) (optional; as shown on Microsoft's UK OneNote page, checked 2026-10-02; £84.99 per year) - Best at: Converting pen notes on a Windows device, including in other languages once handwriting for that language is installed. - The catch: We only checked the Ink to Text feature, which Microsoft documents for OneNote on Windows: it says OneNote for Mac does not currently support converting handwriting to text and the option is not available in OneNote for the web, and we found no Microsoft page on it for iPhone, iPad or Android. Installing a new handwriting language needs Windows 10 or newer and local administrator rights. - Platforms: windows, mac, ios, android, web - Source: [Microsoft Support: take handwritten notes in OneNote](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/take-handwritten-notes-in-onenote-0ec88c54-05f3-4cac-b452-9ee62cebbd4c) ### Transkribus A web platform that reads scans of handwritten or printed documents, including centuries-old scripts, in 100+ languages. - Link: https://www.transkribus.org/ - Free tier: yes. €0 plan with 50 free credits per month and no credit card required. - Paid from: €99 per year (Scholar) (checked 2026-10-02, shown in euros incl. 20% VAT (€8.25 per month), 900 credits per year) - Best at: Old and historic handwriting, such as letters and archive records, with 300+ community AI models. - The catch: Every page costs credits (text recognition is 1 credit per page), and the free plan gives 50 credits a month. - Platforms: web - Source: [Transkribus](https://www.transkribus.org/) ## How they compare ### If you write with a pen on a tablet MyScript Notes, formerly Nebo, is a handwriting note app for iPhone, iPad and Android, and it keeps the Nebo name on Windows. It converts handwriting and maths to typed text and drawn diagrams to clean shapes, recognises handwriting in 66 languages, and lets you edit with pen gestures as you write. What you give up is a clear price. Full features need an in-app purchase once the 7-day free trial ends, though its store listings say you can keep a free limited version after that. Its Chat and study set AI features are iOS only for now, so Android users get fewer of the extras. ### If you use a Windows pen device Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft's free note app, has an Ink to Text button on the Draw tab in its Windows version. Select a block of handwriting with Lasso Select and it turns it into typed text on the page. It can handle other languages once handwriting for that language is installed. The catch is that we only checked this feature on Windows, where Microsoft documents it. Microsoft says the option is not available in OneNote for the web, and that OneNote for Mac does not currently support converting handwriting to text. We found no Microsoft page on it for iPhone, iPad or Android, so do not count on it there. Microsoft says OneNote itself is free to download and use, with some premium features unlocked by an optional Microsoft 365 subscription, from £8.49 a month or £84.99 a year. ### If you need to read old or historic handwriting Transkribus is a web platform that reads scans of handwritten or printed documents in 100+ languages, including centuries-old scripts, with 300+ community AI models. Letters and archive records are the sort of material it is built for. The other apps here are for your own pen notes, which is a different job. You pay per page. Text recognition costs 1 credit a page, and table or field recognition costs 1 credit more each. The free plan gives 50 credits a month. ### If you want one notebook app on every device Goodnotes is a digital notebook and PDF markup app that mixes handwriting and typed text, and it lists apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android and the web. Its own site says you can write, cross out to erase, or convert to text, and its pricing page lists converting handwriting to text as a feature. Once your handwriting is typed up, the next job is usually a PDF, and that's where people get stuck, like needing to tweak a form or fix a line or two without paying for anything. So I put together a guide on [free online PDF editors](/a-free-online-pdf-editor/): which ones need no sign-up, which have free tiers with limits, and the catch with changing a PDF's existing text. There is one thing to check. The free plan is limited to 3 notebooks and 100MB of storage, and the pricing text we could read does not say which plans include conversion. On the UK App Store, Essential is £11.99 per year, Pro (Yearly) £35.99 and AI Pass (Monthly) £9.99. ### If you want it free Transkribus has a €0 plan with 50 free credits a month and no credit card required, which suits occasional pages. MyScript Notes lets you keep a free limited version after its trial. Goodnotes has a free plan, limited to 3 notebooks. Microsoft says OneNote is free to download and use, though it does not say whether Ink to Text is a premium feature. At 1 credit per page, Transkribus's free plan is 50 pages of text recognition a month. ### When paying is worth it The clearest case is Transkribus. Its Scholar plan, at €99 a year including 20% VAT (€8.25 per month), with 900 credits a year, is pitched at better results on difficult handwriting and adds what Transkribus calls its most accurate model, Text Titan II. If your documents are hard to read, that is the case it is aimed at. If you are digitising a handful of pages, the free plan covers them. Nothing here was tested, so try your own pages on the free plan before paying. ## What to watch for The pricing is the least clear part. MyScript Notes keeps a free limited version after its 7-day trial, but its UK App Store listing shows several in-app purchases from £1.99 to £29.99 without saying which unlocks what, or for how long. Installing a new handwriting language for OneNote needs Windows 10 or newer and local administrator rights, per Microsoft. On a computer you do not administer, such as a work laptop, that may stop you. OneNote itself is free to download, and Microsoft 365 plans from £8.49 a month or £84.99 a year unlock premium features, but Microsoft does not say whether Ink to Text is one of them. ## How we checked On 2026-10-02 we read MyScript's site for MyScript Notes, its UK App Store and Google Play listings, Goodnotes' homepage, pricing page and UK App Store listing, Microsoft's support pages on handwritten notes in OneNote, ink in OneNote for Mac and the OneNote versions, its UK OneNote product page and OneNote's UK App Store listing, and Transkribus's homepage and plans page. We looked at Google Lens's own page and Play listing and Apple's Notes and Live Text guides, but none of the text we could read mentioned handwriting, so they are not listed. Nothing was tested hands-on, so this is what those pages say. ## If none of these fit For a phone photo of someone's handwriting, Transkribus accepts an uploaded scan, and its free plan covers 50 credits a month at 1 credit per page. That route works if you have a picture and no tablet. If you write with a pen on a tablet, MyScript Notes offers a 7-day free trial before you decide to pay, which is enough time to see whether it reads your handwriting. ## Also typed as - is there an app that reads bad handwriting - is there an ai that can read bad handwriting - is there an app that can read bad handwriting - is there an app that can read old handwriting - is there an app that scans handwriting to text - is there an app that changes handwriting to text - is there an app that turns handwriting into text - is there a tool that converts handwriting to text ## Related questions - [Is there a free online pdf editor?](https://isthereathing.com/a-free-online-pdf-editor/) - [Is there an app that can transcribe audio to text?](https://isthereathing.com/an-app-that-can-transcribe-audio-to-text/) ## Sources - [MyScript Notes (formerly Nebo)](https://www.nebo.app/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [MyScript Notes on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nebo-notes-pdf-annotations/id1119601770) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Goodnotes on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/goodnotes-ai-notes-docs-pdf/id1444383602) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Microsoft Support: take handwritten notes in OneNote](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/take-handwritten-notes-in-onenote-0ec88c54-05f3-4cac-b452-9ee62cebbd4c) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Microsoft OneNote (UK)](https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Transkribus](https://www.transkribus.org/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Transkribus plans](https://www.transkribus.org/plans) (checked 2026-10-02) - [MyScript Notes on Google Play (UK)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myscript.nebo&hl=en_GB&gl=GB) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Goodnotes homepage](https://www.goodnotes.com/) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Goodnotes plans and pricing](https://www.goodnotes.com/pricing) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Microsoft Support: the difference between the OneNote versions](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/what-s-the-difference-between-the-onenote-versions-a624e692-b78b-4c09-b07f-46181958118f) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Microsoft Support: draw and annotate with ink in OneNote for Mac](https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/draw-and-annotate-with-ink-in-onenote-for-mac-07dcdd04-140c-4e1e-9e01-ed40938f21a9) (checked 2026-10-02) - [Microsoft OneNote on the UK App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-onenote/id410395246) (checked 2026-10-02) ## Questions people ask ### Is there an app that can read bad handwriting? Transkribus says its paid Scholar plan gives better results on difficult handwriting, and its free plan includes 50 credits a month. Nothing here was tested, so try your own pages first. ### Is there an app that can read old handwriting? Yes. Transkribus says it reads centuries-old scripts in 100+ languages from an uploaded scan. ### Can OneNote convert handwriting to text? Yes, on Windows, with Ink to Text on the Draw tab after selecting the handwriting with Lasso Select. Microsoft says the option is not available in OneNote for the web, and that OneNote for Mac does not currently support converting handwriting to text. ### Is there a free app that converts handwriting to text? Transkribus has a €0 plan with 50 credits a month, MyScript Notes has a free limited version after a 7-day trial, Goodnotes has a free plan limited to 3 notebooks, and Microsoft says OneNote is free to download and use.