How to solve a maths problem from a screenshot on your PC
The short answer
Phone apps like Photomath work from the camera, so on a PC the problem has to come off the screen instead. For a problem on a web page, Google Lens in Chrome can search it: right-click, then Search with Google Lens. For worked steps on any screen — a PDF, a slide, a learning platform — ScreenFeel's Solve lens restates the problem, works through it in numbered steps and gives the final answer, or checks a solution you already have.
Why there is no Photomath for PC
Photomath and similar apps were built around a phone camera pointed at paper. On a computer the problem is already on screen — in a PDF, a slide, a homework portal, a video lecture — so the useful tool is one that can capture part of the screen and read the maths in it, not a camera app squeezed onto a desktop. Microsoft Math Solver, which used to fill the gap on PCs, was retired in 2025.
Free: Google Lens in Chrome
If the problem is on a web page, right-click it in Chrome, choose Search with Google Lens and drag over the problem. Lens recognises the expression and shows search results, often with an AI overview of how to approach it. It only works inside Chrome — the Google app for Windows brings the same Lens to the rest of the screen, in English — and what you get back is a set of results rather than one worked solution.
Worked steps from any screen: ScreenFeel's Solve lens
- Press Print Screen and drag around the whole problem, including any diagram, units and the question itself.
- Choose Solve.
- Read the restated problem first: it shows what was read from the screen, in clean notation, so a misread symbol is caught before any working.
- Follow the numbered steps, one idea per step, to the final answer in bold, with units.
The Solve lens works in any app, so the same key works on a textbook PDF, a physics slide, a statistics table whose derived column looks wrong, or a problem on a shared screen.
Checking work instead of doing it
If the capture already contains a worked solution, Solve checks it instead: it confirms it, or names the exact step where it goes wrong. That makes it useful for parents and tutors who want to point at the mistake without handing over the answer, and for anyone marking their own practice problems.
Getting a correct answer
- One problem per capture. Several problems in one image invite the wrong one to be solved.
- Capture the conditions. “Give your answer to two decimal places” or “assume g = 9.8” changes the answer.
- Check the restatement. If the restated problem differs from the screen, the answer is for a different problem.
- Use it to learn. The steps are the useful part. Rework them yourself before you trust the final line.
Questions people also ask
Is there a Photomath app for Windows?
No. Photomath is a phone app. On a PC, use Google Lens in Chrome for problems on web pages, or a screen-reading tool such as ScreenFeel's Solve lens for worked steps on any screen.
Does it show the steps or just the answer?
ScreenFeel's Solve lens shows the problem restated in clean notation, then numbered steps with the algebra, then the final answer in bold with units.
Can it check my homework instead of solving it?
Yes. Capture the problem together with your working, and the Solve lens confirms the solution or names the exact step where it goes wrong.