To copy text from an image on a Mac, open it in Preview, Photos or Quick Look, hover the text until the pointer turns into a text cursor, select it and press ⌘C. That's Live Text, built into macOS. For text that isn't in an image file, such as a slide in a video call, take a screenshot first with ⇧⌘4 and use Live Text on it, or use a tool that reads any area of the screen in one step, like ⇧⌘2 in Toolnotch.
Below: each method, where it works, and where it stops.
Method 1: Live Text in Preview, Photos and Quick Look
Live Text is on by default on Macs running macOS Monterey or later. To check, open System Settings › General › Language & Region and look for "Live Text".
- Open the image in Preview or Photos, or select it in Finder and press Space for Quick Look.
- Move the pointer over the text. It turns into a text cursor.
- Drag to select, then ⌘C. Or right-click › Copy.
- In Quick Look and Photos, a Live Text button appears in the corner when macOS finds text. Click it to highlight every block it found and copy all of it.
It also works on images in Safari: right-click the image, or hover its text.
Where it works well: clear screenshots, photos of documents and signs, scanned PDFs opened in Preview.
Where it struggles: small text, low-resolution images, handwriting and unusual fonts. Zoom in before you take the screenshot, and check numbers and codes after pasting: a 0 read as O is the typical error.
Method 2: text in a video
Pause the video in QuickTime Player or in Safari, then hover the frame: since macOS Ventura, Live Text works on a paused frame there. In other players (Chrome, YouTube in a non-Safari browser, VLC, a video call app), it doesn't, so go to method 3.
Method 3: anything on screen, via a screenshot
When the text sits in an app that won't let you select it, such as a slide shared in Zoom, Google Meet or Teams, an error dialog, a game or a remote desktop:
- Press ⇧⌘4 and drag a box around the text. Keep the box tight: less surrounding text means fewer stray words.
- Click the floating thumbnail in the bottom-right corner before it disappears. If you miss it, the screenshot is on your Desktop.
- In the window that opens, select the text with Live Text, or use the Live Text button to find all of it, then copy.
This works everywhere and costs nothing. It takes about five steps and leaves a screenshot file behind each time.
Method 4: one shortcut, any area of the screen
Apps such as TextSniper, and Pasteback in Toolnotch, skip the screenshot. With Toolnotch:
- Press ⇧⌘2.
- Drag over the text, with the mouse or the trackpad. esc cancels.
- The text is on your clipboard. An island under the notch says « Text copied · 3 lines ». Paste it anywhere with ⌘V.
No file is saved. If nothing readable is in the box, the island says « No text found ». Draw the box again, tighter around the lines.
The first time you press ⇧⌘2, Toolnotch shows a short demo and asks for Screen Recording access then, never at launch. macOS requires that permission for any app that reads pixels from other apps' windows. Only the area you select is read, on your Mac, with Apple's own text recognition, which detects the language by itself. Nothing is sent anywhere.
You can change the shortcut or turn the feature off in Settings › Pasteback.
Text in screenshots you took earlier
Copying is half the problem. The other half is finding the screenshot from last Tuesday that had the Wi-Fi password in it.
Toolnotch's clipboard history, Pasteback, reads every image you copy in the background, on your Mac. Press ⇧⌘C, type a word that was in the picture, and the image shows up in the results. Pick it and choose Copy Text: the lines it found light up and are copied as a new clip.
New screenshots also wait on Pasteback's shelf for 24 hours. Drag one straight from the notch into Slack, Mail or a browser upload field, without opening Finder. The file stays wherever your Mac saved it; press ⌘P on the shelf to keep one there longer.
Which method to use
| Situation | Best method |
|---|---|
| Image file, PDF scan, photo | Live Text in Preview or Quick Look |
| Image on a web page in Safari | Live Text in Safari |
| Paused video in QuickTime or Safari | Live Text on the frame |
| Screen share, video in another app, dialog, remote desktop | Screenshot + Live Text, or ⇧⌘2 |
| You do it several times a day | A one-shortcut tool (⇧⌘2 in Toolnotch, or TextSniper) |
| Finding text in an old screenshot | Clipboard history that searches images |
Privacy notes
Live Text runs on your Mac. So does Toolnotch's text recognition: screenshots and clipboard images are read locally, and the history stays on your Mac, with no cloud and no sync. If you copy text that includes a password or an API key, Pasteback masks it on screen (first characters, then dots) and paste still sends the real value. Items copied from a password manager never touch the disk.
FAQ
Which macOS version do I need?
Live Text needs macOS Monterey or later. Toolnotch needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
Can it read handwriting?
Live Text and Toolnotch both use Apple's text recognition. Neat handwriting often works; quick notes usually come out with errors. Check before you rely on it.
Does it keep the layout of a table?
No. You get the text, line by line. For tables, paste into a spreadsheet and split columns there.
Is there a trial?
Live Text is free. Toolnotch has no trial build, but the home page has a working demo of ⇧⌘2 on a shared slide, and a 14-day refund if the app isn't for you.