How to Decode Wingdings from a Picture or Screenshot
You cannot copy text out of a picture, but you can still read it. Here are three reliable ways to decode Wingdings from screenshots and photos.
Someone sent you a screenshot full of Wingdings symbols, or you spotted a line of them in a game, a video or a puzzle. You cannot copy text out of a picture, so how do you read it? This guide shows three reliable methods, from fastest to most manual.
Method 1: the symbol keyboard (fastest)
Our Wingdings to English decoder has a clickable symbol keyboard below the translator. It works like typing on a phone, except the keys are symbols:
- Open the decoder and scroll to the symbol keyboard.
- Pick the font tab that matches your picture: Wingdings, Wingdings 2, Wingdings 3 or Webdings.
- Click each symbol in the picture, in order. Use Space between words.
- The English appears in the translator above as you click. Use Backspace if you pick the wrong one.
For Undertale screenshots, the Gaster translator has the same keyboard set to Wingdings, and its output stays in capitals like the game.
Method 2: match symbols on the chart
If you prefer to work on paper, open the Wingdings chart. Every symbol is shown with the key that produces it. Find each symbol from your picture, write down its key, and you have the message. The printable A to Z table on that page is handy for puzzles and classrooms.
Method 3: copy the text if it exists
Sometimes the “picture” is really text. If you can select it, copy it and paste it into the decoder. Two cases are common:
- A Word or PDF file in Wingdings: copying gives you ordinary letters, because the font only changed their look. Those letters already are the message.
- A web page or chat: copying gives real Unicode symbols, which the decoder reads directly and even detects the font.
How to tell which font you are looking at
| If the picture shows mostly | It is probably | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Hands, faces, mail, zodiac signs, black circles and squares | Wingdings | ☟︎♏︎●︎●︎□︎ |
| Pens, pointing hands, check boxes, numbers in circles | Wingdings 2 | 🖠︎🙚︎③︎③︎⑥︎ |
| Arrows and triangles | Wingdings 3 | ⮄︎🢫︎🡗︎🡗︎🡙︎ |
| Buildings, vehicles, media buttons | Webdings | 🏠︎📦︎🟈︎🟈︎🛥︎ |
Why not use an image recognition app?
Text recognition (OCR) apps are trained on letters, not on hundreds of small pictograms. They tend to skip Wingdings symbols or read them as random letters, and many symbols differ only in small details, such as an open or closed mailbox. Clicking the symbols yourself takes a minute for a short message and is far more accurate.
Tips for tricky pictures
- Capital or small? In Wingdings, hands and faces are capital letters, while zodiac signs and black shapes are small letters. A decoded message in capitals is normal for Gaster text.
- Look at spacing. Gaps between groups of symbols are usually spaces between words.
- Stuck on one symbol? Decode the rest first. The missing letter is often obvious from the word.
- Symbols you cannot find at all may be extended characters. Check the Alt codes page, which lists the rest of each font.
Once you can read it, you can reply in kind. See how to write secret messages in Wingdings.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Wingdings image translator?
Text recognition apps read Wingdings poorly. The most accurate method is clicking each symbol on our symbol keyboard, which decodes as you go.
How do I know which Wingdings font a picture uses?
Hands and faces suggest Wingdings, check boxes and numbered circles Wingdings 2, arrows Wingdings 3, and buildings or vehicles Webdings.
Why do decoded Gaster messages come out in capitals?
Gaster's text uses capital letters in Wingdings, so a correct decode is all caps.