How to copy text from an image on Mac
If the image is open in Preview, Photos or Safari, macOS Live Text already lets you select its text for free. Anywhere else, such as an image in Chrome, Slack, Telegram, a PDF reader or a design app, press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over the text: Copyable copies it the moment you let go.
How to do it with Copyable
Show the image on screen
Open it in any app and zoom in if the text is small. Copyable reads what is on your display, so bigger is better.
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over the text
Select a word, a paragraph or the whole picture. Only the area you select is read.
Paste it
The text is in your clipboard the moment you let go, and the panel next to your selection shows it. Links, email addresses and phone numbers in the image show up as buttons.
Without Copyable
The free ways, and where they stop working. If one of them covers what you need, you don’t need an app.
Live Text in Preview, Photos and Quick Look
Open the image in Preview or Photos, or select it in Finder and press Space, then drag across the text as in a document and press ⌘ C. Live Text is built into macOS and free.
Where it stops: Only in Apple’s apps and Safari. An image inside Chrome, Slack, Telegram or a PDF reader has to be saved and opened in Preview first.
Google Lens in Chrome
In Chrome, right-click the page, choose Search with Google Lens and drag over the text. Lens can select and copy the text it finds.
Where it stops: Only inside Chrome, and the selected area is sent to Google.
Tips for images
- For the free way, Live Text has to be on: System Settings → General → Language & Region → Live Text. Copyable doesn’t need it.
- Text in photos, such as signs, packaging or a screen photographed at an angle, reads best when you select only the text.
- A table in an image can go to a spreadsheet as cells. Switch to Table before you drag.
Questions
Do I need Copyable if I have Live Text?
Not for images you open in Preview, Photos, Quick Look or Safari: Live Text handles those. Copyable is for everything else on screen, with one shortcut for text, tables, QR codes and translation in any app.
Can it read text in a photo of a document?
Yes. Flat, well-lit, in-focus photos work best. Printed text is the reliable case; neat handwriting often works too.
Does the image leave my Mac?
No. Recognition happens on your Mac, Copyable makes no network requests, and the image isn’t saved.
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