Free online BMP to TXT converter

Source format: BMP

BMP (Bitmap) is a raster image format developed for Windows. It stores pixel data in a simple, usually uncompressed form, which makes it easy for software to read and write. BMP files are commonly used in Windows graphics workflows, legacy applications, screenshots, icons, and simple image editing tasks where compatibility matters more than file size.

Because BMP usually preserves image data without heavy compression, it can be useful when you need a straightforward source image for analysis or conversion. However, BMP files are often much larger than modern image formats such as PNG or JPG.

Target format: TXT

TXT is a plain text format that stores readable characters only, without embedded images, fonts, colors, or layout. It is one of the most compatible file types and can be opened by nearly any text editor or programming tool. TXT is commonly used for notes, logs, configuration files, source code, and simple data exchange.

When converting BMP to TXT, the result is usually not a visual representation of the image itself. Instead, the conversion typically means extracting text recognized inside the image using OCR (optical character recognition). This is useful for scanned documents, screenshots, receipts, labels, and other images that contain readable text.

How to perform the conversion

The best method depends on whether your BMP contains readable text.

If the BMP is a scanned document or screenshot with text:

1. Open the BMP in an OCR-capable tool such as ABBYY FineReader or Tesseract OCR.
2. Run text recognition on the image.
3. Export or save the recognized content as File → Save As or File → Export and choose .txt.
4. Review the output in a text editor and correct recognition errors if needed.

If you want to use a command-line OCR tool:

1. Install Tesseract OCR.
2. Run a command such as tesseract input.bmp output.
3. This creates a plain text file named output.txt containing the recognized text.

If the BMP does not contain text:

There is no meaningful direct conversion to TXT, because a text file cannot store image pixels. In that case, the only useful TXT output would be metadata, a file listing, or OCR results if the image contains any readable characters.

You can also convert the file on 101convert.com for free, without installing any software, if the site supports OCR-based BMP to TXT processing for your file.

Notes on quality and limitations

BMP to TXT conversion is only accurate when the image contains readable text. OCR quality depends on image resolution, contrast, font clarity, skew, noise, and language support. Clean, high-resolution BMP files usually produce better results than blurry or low-contrast images.

Keep in mind that OCR output may lose formatting, tables, columns, and exact spacing. Handwritten text is much harder to recognize than printed text. If the BMP is a photo or illustration without text, the conversion will not produce useful plain text.

For best results, use a sharp image, crop unnecessary borders, and choose the correct OCR language before exporting to TXT.