Copy text from any image, video or PDF on a Mac

Some text on a Mac refuses to be selected. A screenshot someone sent you. A scanned PDF. The address in a video. An error message in a dialog with no copy button. To copy text from an image on a Mac you used to retype it, or take a photo of your screen with your phone. With catu it is ⇧⌘5 and a drag.

Drag over the text you can see

1. Press ⇧⌘5, or click catu in the menu bar and choose Copy Text from Screen.
2. The screen dims. Drag a rectangle over the text.
3. Let go. catu reads the text and copies it.
4. Press ⌘V wherever you want it.

catu confirms with Text copied and the number of words. The screen is frozen the moment you press ⇧⌘5, so a tooltip, a menu or a playing video stays exactly where it was while you drag.

It works on anything on the screen

That is the point. The text doesn't have to be real text as far as the app showing it is concerned. It can be:

• a photo or a screenshot in a chat;
• a scanned PDF where nothing is selectable;
• a frame of a video, paused or not;
• a dialog, an installer or an old app that blocks copying;
• a slide in a presentation someone is sharing on a call.

If you can see it, catu can read it. To read a whole window, press Space after ⇧⌘5 and click the window. To read the whole screen, press Return.

Code, keys and order numbers: hold ⌥

Normally catu corrects what it reads against a dictionary, which makes ordinary sentences come out clean. For a command, a serial number, a licence key or anything that isn't made of real words, you want the characters exactly as they appear. Drag as usual, then hold ⌥ while you let go. catu copies the characters as they are.

If there is a QR code in the area, catu copies what the code contains, for example a web address, and says QR code copied.

Other languages

catu reads English and Spanish to begin with. In Settings › Capture, under Screen text (⇧⌘5) languages, turn on the others you need. The list is whatever your Mac can read, which usually includes the major European languages, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

It stays on your Mac, and it stays out of your history when it should

The reading happens on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded, and it works with the internet off. The text goes into your clipboard history with a From Screen label so you can find it again later, with one exception: if it looks like a password, an API key or a token, it is copied so you can paste it, but catu does not keep it.

Three habits that get cleaner text

• One column at a time. catu reads line by line across the whole rectangle, so two columns side by side get mixed.
• Line breaks are kept. Every line on screen becomes a line of text. Join them in your app if you want one paragraph.
• Zoom in on small text. catu enlarges small selections before reading, but ⌘+ in the page first gives even better results.

The takeaway

The next time you reach for your phone to photograph your Mac's screen, press ⇧⌘5 instead. It is free, it needs no account, and the text is in your clipboard before the camera app has opened.

Every detail and fix is in the help centre: Copy text from the screen.