How to copy text from a Google Meet presentation on Mac
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 while someone presents in Google Meet and drag over the text on their screen; it is in your clipboard when you let go. Meet runs in the browser, and Copyable works in Chrome, Safari or any other browser because it reads the screen itself.
How to do it with Copyable
Pin the presentation
Pin the presenter’s screen and make the browser full screen, so the text is as large as it gets.
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over the text
The screen freezes the moment you press the shortcut, so a slide change doesn’t catch you halfway.
Paste it
The text is in your clipboard the moment you let go, and the panel next to your selection shows it. Press ⌘ V in your notes or document.
Without Copyable
The free ways, and where they stop working. If one of them covers what you need, you don’t need an app.
Google Lens in Chrome
In Chrome, right-click the Meet tab, choose Search with Google Lens and drag over the presentation to select its text.
Where it stops: Chrome only, and the selected area is sent to Google.
A screenshot, then Preview
Press ⌘ ⌃ ⇧ 4 (Command-Control-Shift-4) and select the area to copy a screenshot to the clipboard. Open Preview, choose File → New from Clipboard and select the text with Live Text.
Where it stops: Works for anything on screen, but each capture takes several steps and leaves a Preview window to close.
Tips for Google Meet
- Meet lowers video quality on a slow connection, and small text suffers first. If a capture has mistakes, wait for the picture to sharpen and press ⌘ ⇧ 1 to read the same area again.
- Meet’s captions are on screen too, so you can capture a line someone just said.
- A QR code in the presentation is detected: the panel shows the link with an Open button.
Questions
Do I need a browser extension?
No. Copyable is a Mac app that reads the screen, so it works with Meet in any browser without an extension.
Does it send anything to Google?
No. Copyable makes no network requests. Recognition happens on your Mac.
Does it work in Meet’s picture-in-picture window?
Yes, if the text is large enough to read. Anything shown on your screen can be captured.
Why is the shared screen black in my capture?
Some meeting apps can hide shared content from screen capture when the host turns that on. Then it appears black to every capture tool on the Mac, Copyable included.
Copy text from anything on your screen
Copyable reads the text in any area you select with ⌘ ⇧ 2, on your Mac, without uploading anything. $4.99 once, plus tax where it applies. Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Buy for $4.99