Make Mac BetterHow to copy text from an image on a Mac
A phone number on a poster, a paragraph in a screenshot, an invoice someone sent as a photo: you don’t have to type it again. A Mac recognises the text in images.
Step by step
Open the image in Preview
Move the pointer over the text: it changes to a text cursor. Drag to select it and press ⌘C to copy, just as in a document.
In Photos, Safari or Quick Look
It works the same way: select text in a photo in your library, in an image on a web page or in the preview you get by pressing Space in the Finder.
Use the data it detects
Control-click a phone number, an address or a date in the image to call, open Maps or create an event without copying anything.
Text from any part of the screen
In Make Mac Better, press ⌃⇧2, drag over the area — a video, a presentation, an app that doesn’t let you select — and its text is copied to the clipboard.
Which version of macOS do I need?
Live Text works on macOS 12 Monterey or later. On Macs with Apple silicon it recognises more languages and also works in video frames when paused.
How do I extract text from many images or a scanned PDF?
In Make Mac Better, Tools › Extract text (OCR) processes images and scanned PDFs in batches and saves the text in files, on your Mac.
Why can’t I select the text?
The image may be too small or blurry, or the language may not be supported. Try zooming in, or take a sharper capture of the area.
Is the image uploaded to recognise the text?
No. Both Live Text and Make Mac Better recognise the text on the Mac itself, without sending the image anywhere.