Installing Tesseract-OCR on Windows devices

Tesseract-OCR is an open-source optical character recognition (OCR) engine that converts text within images into machine-readable text. Coro leverages Tesseract to identify and scan sensitive information from image files during data scans on Windows endpoint devices.

Installing Tesseract-OCR

To install Tesseract-OCR on a Windows device:

1. Download and execute the Tesseract-OCR installation file.

2. Select a language from the Installer Language dialog dropdown, and then select OK:

   

3. Select Next >:

   

4. Review the agreement terms, and then select I Agree to continue:

   

5. Select a user installation option and then select Next >:

   

6. Select the components to install. Make sure English is selected in Language data:

   

7. Select Next >:

   

8. Enter the Tesseract-OCR installation directory, or use the default. Select Next > to continue:

   
   Important

   Record the Tesseract-OCR installation directory. It is required to configure the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable. Without this, Tesseract-OCR might not work properly.

   Important

   If you enter a custom Tesseract-OCR installation directory, you must add this directory to the PATH Environment Variable to ensure Tesseract-OCR is accessible from Windows Command Prompt.

9. Select the start menu folder in which to create the Tesseract-OCR shortcuts, or select Do not create shortcuts.

10. Select Install:

    

    Tesseract-OCR starts the installation.

11. After the installation completes, select Next >:

    

12. Select Finish:

    

13. Verify the Tesseract-OCR installation by opening Windows Command Prompt and entering:

    tesseract -v

    Windows Command Prompt displays the details of the Tesseract-OCR installation found on the device:

    
    Important

    If Windows Command Prompt does not recognize the command you must add the Tesseract-OCR installation directory to the PATH environment variable.

Creating the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable

Tesseract-OCR uses language data files (.traineddata) in the Tesseract-OCR\tessdata folder for OCR. If these files are missing from the default location, Tesseract-OCR might fail to process text correctly. To ensure Tesseract-OCR finds them, set the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable after installing it on your Windows device.

To add the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable:

1. Select Search and enter Environment Variables.

2. Select Edit the system environmental variables:

   

3. Select Environment Variables... from the System Properties dialog:

   

1. Under System variables, select New...:

   

2. Enter the following configuration:

   • Variable name: TESSDATA_PREFIX
   • Variable value: Enter the full path to the tessdata folder inside your Tesseract-OCR installation directory. For example, C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tessdata.

3. Select OK:

   

   Windows creates the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable.

4. Verify the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable by opening Windows Command Prompt and entering:

   echo %TESSDATA_PREFIX%

   Windows Command Prompt displays the TESSDATA_PREFIX environment variable:

   

Adding the Tesseract-OCR installation directory to the PATH environment variable

When you add your Tesseract-OCR installation directory to the PATH environment variable, the operating system (OS) can locate and run Tesseract-OCR from Windows Command Prompt without needing the full path to the Tesseract-OCR executable file.

To add the Tesseract-OCR installation directory to the PATH environment variable:

1. Select Search and enter Environment Variables.

2. Select Edit the system environmental variables:

   

3. Select Environment Variables... from the System Properties dialog:

   

4. Locate the Path variable in the System variables list, and then select Edit...:

   

5. Select New, paste your Tesseract installation directory, and then select OK:

   

   Windows adds the Tesseract-OCR installation directory to the PATH environment variable.

6. Verify the PATH environment variable by opening Windows Command Prompt and entering:

   tesseract -v

   Windows Command Prompt displays the details of the Tesseract-OCR installation found on the device: