A method of operating electronic handwriting includes receiving at least two handwriting strokes from a touch screen, determining whether the at least two handwriting strokes overlap each other, selecting at least one of the overlapped handwriting strokes into a group, and recognizing a handwriting stroke belonging to the group. An electronic device for recognizing handwriting includes at least one of a touch device configured to receive a handwriting strokes, a storage configured to store information comprising the at least one handwriting stroke, and a controller configured to determine whether at least two handwriting strokes overlap each other, select at least one of the overlapped handwriting strokes into a group, and perform text recognition on a handwriting strokes belonging to the group.