TextGrab

OCR Extractor

Capture the text your Mac will not let you select.

TextGrab turns anything visible on your screen into useful text, QR data, or barcode payloads. One shortcut, one precise gesture, and nothing leaves your Mac.

View on App Store Read the privacy promise
  • On-device recognition
  • No account or subscription
  • One purchase
  • Anything on screen
  • Images and PDFs
  • Clipboard captures
  • Continuity Camera

Useful from the first capture

Built for the things that should have been selectable.

TextGrab stays out of the way until a document, video, website, or image refuses to cooperate.

Capture any region in one gesture.

Use a global shortcut, drag around exactly what you need, and copy the result straight to your clipboard.

Read QR codes and barcodes too.

TextGrab detects the useful payload, not just the pixels: URLs, codes, and the text around them.

Rescue images and PDFs.

Open files or use the clipboard. Source images and rendered PDF pages are read in memory, then let go.

Make captured text useful.

Edit it, search it, pin it, translate it with Apple Translation, or hear it with a system voice.

Keep text, not surveillance.

Your searchable local history stores recognized text and details—never the source screenshot or imported file.

One simple loop

Capture. Confirm. Continue.

Choose the input that is already in front of you. TextGrab returns a clean result for you to edit, copy, speak, translate, or keep locally.

Screen region

Select what matters. Leave the rest alone.

Press your shortcut, draw a precise region, and TextGrab reads only the content you chose.

Text copied · ready to paste

Privacy, made concrete

Your screen is not our product.

TextGrab uses Apple Vision on your Mac. There are no accounts, analytics, advertising SDKs, online AI providers, or cloud processing. Your captures stay local.

Read the complete privacy policy

Images are temporary

Screen regions, imported files, clipboard images, and camera captures are processed in memory and are not stored by TextGrab.

History is text-only

Recognized text and helpful capture details stay in your Mac’s app sandbox, where you can edit, pin, delete, or clear them.

Built to stay local

Recognition happens on your Mac. macOS may download language or voice resources when you choose to use them.