Copy English text from your screen on Mac
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over English text anywhere on your screen, in a photo, a video, a PDF, an app or a web page, and Copyable copies it the moment you let go. English is the language Apple’s text recognition has supported the longest. It works on macOS 14 Sonoma and later, offline, and detects the language by itself.
How to do it with Copyable
Show the text on screen
Open the image, video, PDF or app with the text. Zoom in if it is small: size and sharpness matter more than anything else.
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over the text
You don’t pick a language first: Copyable detects that the text is English. Select a line, a paragraph or a whole sign.
Paste it
The text is in your clipboard the moment you let go, and the panel next to your selection shows it. Press ⌘ V wherever you need it.
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 Safari
For an image you can open in Preview or Photos, or one on a web page in Safari, Live Text may already let you select the text. It’s free and on your Mac.
Where it stops: Only in Apple’s apps, and the languages it reads depend on your macOS version and language settings. If the text won’t select, it isn’t available there.
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 English text
- Before pasting into code, check quotes and dashes: typographic ’ “ and – look a lot like straight ' " and -.
- All-caps signs and headings read well. Very thin, decorative or handwritten-style fonts are harder.
- Lines that end in a hyphen were split by the layout. If you join lines into a paragraph, check those words.
Questions
Can it translate English into another language?
On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, yes. Switch to Translate before you drag; the panel shows the translation in the language you choose, translated on your Mac with Apple’s translation.
Does it read English mixed with code?
Yes. Commands, file names and code keep their spacing and indentation; check look-alike characters such as 0 and O.
Do I need to set my Mac to English?
No. Copyable reads English whatever language your Mac and keyboard are set to.
Is English text sent anywhere to be recognized?
No. Recognition happens on your Mac with Apple’s Vision framework. Copyable makes no network requests and has no account.
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