How to copy text from a photo on a Mac

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 3 October 2026

The feature is called Live Text. The Mac recognises writing in photos and screenshots, such as a sign, a receipt, a slide or a page of a book, and treats it like normal text that you can copy, translate or look up.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

1. Open the picture

   Double-click a photo in the Photos app, or open an image file in Preview. It also works in Quick Look (select the file and press the Space bar) and on pictures in Safari.

   Done

2. Move the pointer over the text

   The arrow changes to a text cursor when the Mac has recognised text there.

   Done

3. Select the text

   Drag across the words you need, as you would in a document. Command + A selects all the text in the picture.

   Done

4. Copy it

   Press Command + C, or Control-click the selection and choose Copy Text.

   Done

5. Paste it

   Switch to your document, email or note and press Command + V.

   Done

6. Use the other options

   Control-click selected text for more: Look Up shows a definition, Translate turns it into another language, Search with looks it up on the web, and Share sends it on. A phone number offers a call or message, an email address a new email, and a web address opens in the browser.

   Done

Good to know

Clear, printed text is recognised best. Handwriting works when it is tidy. Check numbers and names after pasting, because single characters can be wrong.

Translate is not offered for every language and region.

For a scanned PDF without selectable text, our free tool adds a text layer in the browser: OCR PDF.

On the phone: how to copy text from a photo on an iPhone and how to copy text from a photo on Android.

In short: Open the photo in Photos or Preview, pointer over the text, drag to select, Command + C, paste. Control-click for Look Up and Translate.