Polish Handwriting to Text

The nine letters that matter

Polish has nine letters with diacritics: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż. In handwriting they're tiny marks: a hook under a or e, a short slash through l, a dot or an acute over z. Drop one and the meaning changes. "Żona" (wife) and "zona" (zone) are different words, so are "łaska" and "laska". Many OCR tools quietly drop these marks.

This converter is told up front that the text is Polish and to keep every mark. It also knows the classic handwritten confusions: ł written like a crossed cursive l, and ż versus ź, where a dot and an acute can look similar in a hurry.

Popular with genealogists

Polish family history means reading a lot of handwriting: letters from relatives in Poland, notes on the back of photos, and civil and parish records. Older records are often in Polish, Latin or Russian depending on the region and decade. Typed text is easier to search, share with relatives, and paste into a translator than a stack of photos.

Also good for

• Notes from Polish language classes
• Recipes from a babcia's notebook
• Postcards and letters from friends in Poland
• Handwritten forms and school work

Photo tips for Polish handwriting

• Diacritics are small, so get close enough that the dots and hooks are clear
• Avoid flash on glossy postcards; it creates glare right where accents sit
• If a name keeps coming back with [?], crop that line and run it again

Frequently asked questions