Copy Japanese text from your screen on Mac
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over Japanese 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. It reads kanji, hiragana and katakana together, as they appear in ordinary Japanese text. It works on macOS 14 Sonoma and later, offline, and detects the language by itself.
10:00–20:00
Closed on Tuesdays
How to do it with Copyable
Show the text on screen
Open the image, video, PDF or app with the text. Characters with many strokes need more pixels, so zoom in until they are clearly larger than normal reading size.
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and drag over the text
You don’t pick a language first: Copyable detects that the text is Japanese. Select a line, a paragraph or a whole sign.
Paste it, or translate it
The text is in your clipboard the moment you let go. On macOS 15 and later, switch to Translate to see it in your language next to the original.
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 Japanese text
- Horizontal text is the reliable case. For vertical text (tategaki), as in novels, manga and some signs, select one column at a time and check the result.
- Small furigana above kanji is text too, so it can end up in the result. Select below it, or delete it after pasting.
- Menus and signs often mix Japanese with numbers and English. If a part comes out wrong, capture it separately.
Questions
Does it read vertical Japanese text?
Horizontal text is the reliable case. For vertical text, select one column at a time and check the result before you use it.
Can it translate Japanese into English?
On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, yes: switch to Translate before you drag. The translation is made on your Mac with Apple’s translation; the first time, macOS may ask to download the languages.
Do I need to set my Mac to Japanese?
No. Copyable reads Japanese whatever language your Mac and keyboard are set to.
Is Japanese 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