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Selectable

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Selectable is a macOS menu bar app that uses on-device OCR to make text in images, videos, PDFs, presentations, and other non-selectable screen areas instantly copyable. It is built for Mac users who need to capture, translate, listen to, or mask visible text without uploading screenshots or content.

Added on May 26, 2026

Selectable Screenshot

Product Information

What is Selectable?

Selectable is a native macOS OCR tool for turning anything visible on your screen into editable text. It works across apps, videos, images, PDFs, screencasts, presentations, and webpages where normal text selection is unavailable. The app uses Apple’s Vision framework to process OCR locally on the device, keeping screenshots and captured text private. It also supports workflows such as auto translation, text-to-speech, line cleanup, and sensitive data masking.

How to use Selectable?

  1. Install Selectable on your Mac and grant the required Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions.
  2. Press the global shortcut or choose Capture from the menu bar.
  3. Drag over the area of the screen that contains text you want to extract.
  4. Copy the recognized text into any app, or use translation, text-to-speech, or formatting options.
  5. Repeat the same workflow for PDFs, images, video subtitles, slides, or online courses.

Core Features

  • System-wide OCR — Capture visible text from any app, image, video, PDF, or presentation.
  • On-device processing — Run OCR locally with Apple Vision so captured content stays on your Mac.
  • Global shortcut — Trigger text capture from anywhere without changing apps.
  • Auto translation — Translate captured text immediately on supported macOS versions.
  • Text-to-speech — Listen to extracted text with natural voices across multiple languages.
  • Output customization — Preserve line breaks, remove empty lines, and mask sensitive data.
  • Offline-friendly workflow — Extract text locally without depending on cloud OCR services.

Use Cases

  • Video learning — Copy subtitles, slide text, or tutorial snippets from non-selectable videos.
  • Document research — Extract quotes or references from scanned PDFs, images, and screenshots.
  • Accessibility support — Listen to captured text using text-to-speech when reading on screen is inconvenient.
  • Privacy-sensitive OCR — Capture private text locally without uploading screenshots to online OCR tools.
  • Translation workflow — Convert visible foreign-language text into a preferred language while browsing or studying.

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