How to search photos for the text in them

Phones have become notebooks. People photograph the serial number on the back of a boiler, the Wi-Fi details on a router, a parking bay number, a restaurant’s specials board, a page from a library book, or the whiteboard at the end of a planning session. The photo holds the information you need, and finding it later means remembering roughly when you took it and scrolling.

This guide covers how people usually find a photo by the text in it, where that approach runs out, and how to keep photos in Fabric so the words in each one are searchable, with quotes for exact strings like model numbers and filters to narrow the results.

How people usually find a photo by the words in it

Scrolling the camera roll by date is the default. It works when you know it was the week you moved house. It’s slow for anything older, and a useful photo of a label can sit between two hundred holiday pictures.

Apple Photos and Google Photos can both recognize text in images, and searching for a word you remember often brings up the right picture. Many people rely on this and it works well inside each app’s library. Photos saved elsewhere, such as images on a laptop, pictures from a messaging app, or a camera’s memory card, sit outside it.

Some people copy the important text out by hand into a notes app, so the serial number or address is typed somewhere searchable. That’s reliable for the few things you remember to transcribe. Most photos never get that treatment, and the copy can drift from the original if one of them is updated.

Step 1: Get your photos into Fabric

The Fabric mobile app can back up your camera roll automatically. Choose to sync all photos or only specific folders, and new pictures arrive in Fabric without you sending each one. How to back up your camera roll automatically walks through the settings.

For photos already on a computer, drag them into Fabric or click Upload a file, which handles large batches. A picture someone sent you in a messaging app can go in through the share sheet: tap Share and choose Fabric.

When the photo is of handwriting, such as notebook pages or meeting notes, the handwriting scanner is the better route. Photograph the page in the mobile app, or upload an image, and Fabric turns it into a structured note with headings and lists, keeping the original photo alongside. It’s available on the free plan.

Step 2: Search for the words in the photo

Click Search or press Cmd+F (Mac) / Ctrl+F (Windows) and type the text you remember. Fabric search reads text inside images, including photographed text, so a search for the name on a shop sign or the title on a book spine can return the photo it appears in.

Quotes help with strings that need to match exactly. Searching for “WF-1000XM4” in quotes returns the photo of that model number, and leaves out similar codes. When you remember only part of a number, such as the last group of digits, search for the part you’re sure of and add a word for the object, like “boiler” or “router”, to bring the right photo up the list.

If you remember what the picture showed better than the words in it, search for that instead. Search also covers what’s visually in an image, so “whiteboard with a timeline” can find the photo too. How to search photos by what’s in them covers searching by subject and scene.

Step 3: Narrow the results

A word like “invoice” or “exit” can appear in many photos and documents. Use the kind of item filter to show images only. The location filter keeps results to one folder, such as the synced camera roll or a folder for home paperwork, and tags narrow it further across folders.

Fabric processes each photo when it arrives. It extracts attributes such as content type, concepts and colors, writes a summary, and suggests tags. You can set up smart collections that fill themselves from those attributes, for example one for photos of receipts or of product labels, which gives you a smaller pool to search.

Step 4: Ask a question instead of searching

Sometimes you want the information in the photo more than the photo itself. Open a folder and ask the AI assistant a question such as what the router password is, or which tire size was written on the car door sticker. It works within that folder, answers from what’s in the photos, and cites the image it used so you can check it.

Once you’ve found the photo, it’s often worth saving the answer as a note or adding a comment, so the next search lands on typed text as well as the image. Related photos are one click away with similarity search: select the photo and Fabric finds others with a similar composition, color and subject, which helps when you took several shots of the same label or board.

Frequently asked questions

Can I search my photos for text?

Yes. Fabric search reads text inside images, including photographed text, so typing words that appear in a photo can return it.

How do I find a photo of a serial number or model number?

Search for the number in quotes for an exact match. If you only remember part of it, search for that part with a word describing the object, and filter to images.

Can Fabric back up my phone photos automatically?

Yes. The mobile app backs up the camera roll automatically, and you can choose all photos or only specific folders.

Can I search photos stored on my computer, too?

Yes. Upload them or drag them into Fabric and they’re searchable alongside photos from your phone.

What about photos of handwritten notes?

Use the handwriting scanner. It turns a photo of a handwritten page into a structured note and keeps the original photo with it. It’s on the free plan.

Can I search photos by what’s in them as well as the text?

Yes. Search covers the visual content of images, and you can also search by color with a HEX code or the color picker.

Can AI read the text in my photos and answer questions?

Ask the AI assistant within a folder of photos and it answers using what’s in them, with references to the images it drew on.

Is photo search available on the free plan?

File uploads are on the free plan, which has storage and file size caps and limited AI use. Pricing sets out what each plan includes.