The quickest built-in way to copy text from your screen on a Mac is Live Text. Open an image or screenshot in Preview, Photos or Quick Look, drag across the words and press ⌘C. For text anywhere else, like a video call, an error dialog or an app that won't let you select, press ⌃⇧⌘4 to copy a screenshot, open it in Preview and copy the text from there. If you do this often, a free Shortcuts shortcut or an OCR app such as Smooth Recorder, TextSniper or CleanShot X gets it down to one step.
Which method to use
| The text is in | Best way | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A photo or screenshot file | Live Text in Preview, Photos or Quick Look | Free |
| An image on a web page | Live Text in Safari | Free |
| A paused video | Live Text in QuickTime Player or Safari | Free |
| Anywhere on screen, now and then | ⌃⇧⌘4, then Preview | Free |
| Anywhere on screen, several times a day | A Shortcuts shortcut or an OCR app | Free or paid |
Live Text: copy text from images, screenshots and videos
Apple added Live Text in macOS 12 Monterey. It finds text inside images and makes it selectable, as if it were typed. It works in Photos, Preview, Quick Look and Safari, and since macOS 13 Ventura it also works on paused video frames. Screenshots are images too, so it works on those.
- Open the image in Preview or Photos, or select the file in Finder and press Space for Quick Look.
- Move the pointer over the text until it turns into a text cursor.
- Drag to select the words you want.
- Press ⌘C, or Control-click and choose Copy. Then paste anywhere.
Control-click selected text for more: look up a word, translate it, or search the web. If the image shows a phone number, website or email address, you can call it, open it or start an email, as Apple's Preview guide describes. In Safari, the same works on images inside web pages.
If nothing is selectable, open System Settings > General > Language & Region and make sure Live Text is turned on.
Copy text from a paused video
Live Text reads video frames too, which is handy for code in a tutorial or a slide in a recorded talk.
- Open the video in QuickTime Player, or play it in Safari.
- Pause on the frame that shows the text. Live Text doesn't work while the video is playing.
- Hover over the text until the pointer turns into a text cursor, then drag to select it.
- Press ⌘C.
If the frame is blurry, try the next one: in QuickTime Player, the arrow keys step one frame at a time while the video is paused.
Copy text from anywhere on screen
Live Text needs an image, so make one first:
- Press ⌃⇧⌘4 and drag over the text. Adding Control copies the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving a file.
- Open Preview and choose File > New from Clipboard (⌘N).
- Select the text and press ⌘C.
No screenshot file lands on your Desktop, and you can close the Preview window without saving.
Make a free one-key OCR shortcut
The Shortcuts app has an Extract Text from Image action that uses Apple's built-in text recognition. Pair it with a screenshot and you get the core of an OCR app for free.
- Open Shortcuts and click + to start a new shortcut.
- Add the Take Screenshot action and switch it from full screen to Interactive, so you choose what to capture.
- Add Extract Text from Image. It uses the screenshot as its input.
- Add Copy to Clipboard.
- Name the shortcut, open its details, click Add Keyboard Shortcut, and press a combination you don't use anywhere else.
Now press your keys, drag over any text and paste. The first time, macOS may ask you to allow Shortcuts to capture the screen. You can also turn on Pin in Menu Bar in the same details panel to run it from the menu bar. Apple's guide to running shortcuts covers both options.
Prefer the screenshot keys you already know? Build the shortcut from Get Clipboard, Extract Text from Image and Copy to Clipboard instead. Press ⌃⇧⌘4, drag over the text, then run the shortcut: the picture on your clipboard is swapped for its text.
Apps that copy text in one step
If you grab text from the screen several times a day, a dedicated tool is faster: one shortcut, one drag, done, with no screenshot and no extra window.
Smooth Recorder
- Press ⌥1 to open the capture overlay.
- Select the area with the text.
- Press T. The text is recognized on your Mac and copied, ready to paste.
It's the same overlay you use for screenshots, recordings, GIFs and scrolling captures, so there's only one shortcut to remember. Smooth Recorder is a native app for macOS 15 and later, $9 once during early access, with no subscription and no account.
TextSniper
TextSniper is a menu bar app built for exactly this job. Press its shortcut, drag over any area, and the text goes straight to your clipboard without creating a screenshot file. It's a good pick if copying text is all you want. Check its website for current pricing.
CleanShot X
CleanShot X includes text recognition alongside screenshots, annotation, screen recording and scrolling capture. It suits people who want one capture app for everything. Basic is $35 once with a year of updates, and Pro is $12 a month, as of September 2026. See how it compares.
| App | How you copy text | Price (September 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth Recorder | ⌥1, select an area, press T | $9 once in early access ($19 at launch) |
| TextSniper | Its shortcut, then select an area | See its website |
| CleanShot X | Its text capture tool | $35 once (Basic) or $12 a month (Pro) |
| Shortcuts (built in) | Your own keyboard shortcut | Free |
Languages and accuracy tips
Live Text launched in macOS 12 Monterey with English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese. macOS 13 Ventura added Japanese, Korean and Ukrainian. Apple keeps the current list on its macOS feature availability page, and notes that Live Text isn't available in every region or language.
Accuracy depends more on the picture than on the tool:
- Make the text bigger. Zoom in before you capture (⌘+ works in most browsers and many apps). Small text causes most mistakes.
- Crop tight. Select only the text you need. Icons, borders and buttons can turn into stray characters.
- Prefer plain backgrounds. High-contrast text on an even background reads best. Text over photos, gradients or patterns is harder.
- Take one column at a time. In multi-column layouts and tables, lines from side-by-side columns can get mixed together.
- Expect trouble with decorative fonts. Script, very thin or heavily styled type is more error-prone than plain text.
- Proofread what matters. Check numbers, codes and look-alike characters, such as 0 and O, 1 and l, or rn and m, before you paste them anywhere important.
Privacy: where your text goes
Apple says Live Text uses on-device intelligence, so the image you select isn't sent anywhere to be read. Smooth Recorder also recognizes text on your Mac, and your captures stay there.
For other tools, read the privacy policy before you point them at anything sensitive. Be most careful with free OCR websites: they upload your image to someone else's server, which is a poor fit for contracts, customer data or anything with a password in it.
If the text you need runs down a long page, a scrolling screenshot keeps it in one image. And if you're capturing text to report a problem, a short video often explains it faster: see how to record a bug report video.