How to turn a table in a screenshot into a Markdown table on Mac
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2, choose Table and drag over the table. In the panel, choose Copy as Markdown, and the table is in your clipboard as a Markdown table, ready for a README, an issue, a wiki or your notes. Recognition happens on your Mac.
How to do it with Copyable
Press ⌘ ⇧ 2 and choose Table
The screen freezes and a toolbar appears at the bottom. Choose Table there before you drag.
Drag over the table
Include the header row and leave out titles and footnotes around the table. Clear rows and columns give the cleanest result.
Copy as Markdown and paste
In the panel, choose Copy as Markdown and press ⌘ V in GitHub, Obsidian or any editor that displays Markdown tables.
Without Copyable
The free ways, and where they stop working. If one of them covers what you need, you don’t need an app.
Through a spreadsheet
Get the table into a spreadsheet first, then convert it with a Markdown table generator or an editor plugin.
Where it stops: Extra tools and steps for every table.
Tips for Markdown tables
- A pipe character (|) inside a cell breaks a Markdown table. Write it as \| if your data has one.
- Markdown tables have no merged cells. Repeat the value in each cell, or keep it in the first one.
- To align a column, add colons to the line under the header: :--- for left, :---: for center, ---: for right.
Questions
Where can I paste a Markdown table?
Anywhere that displays Markdown tables, such as GitHub, GitLab, Obsidian and many note apps. Where Markdown tables aren’t supported, the pipes show up as plain text.
Does it keep the header row?
Yes, if the header is inside your selection. In Markdown the first row of a table is its header.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Copyable reads the table on your Mac and makes no network requests.
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