Text Recognition from the Mac Menu Bar
By Eduard Bruch, developer of Optic · Updated
Menu bar text recognition means you start an OCR capture from an icon at the top of the screen, drag over any text, and get it on your clipboard without leaving the app you are in. On a Mac, Live Text covers images in some apps, and a menu bar OCR app covers the rest of the screen.
Short answer: for text you cannot select, wherever it is on screen, my pick is Optic, a menu bar app that copies the text in any area you drag across the screen ($4.99, a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store).
Disclosure: I build Optic.
The problem with file-based OCR
Many OCR tools work on files. You take a screenshot, save it, open the OCR app, import the image, wait, copy the result, switch back and paste. That is fine for a long document. For one error message, a link in a video or a line of text in a dialog, it is far too many steps.
What Live Text already covers
macOS Live Text works where Apple supports it: images in Preview, Photos, Quick Look and Safari. If the text is in a photo or a screenshot you have open there, you can select it like normal text. No extra app is needed.
It does not work on arbitrary app windows, video calls or text drawn inside an app's interface. That gap is what a menu bar OCR tool fills.
How Optic works from the menu bar
Optic has no Dock icon and no main window. It is an icon in the menu bar.
- Click the Optic icon in the menu bar.
- Choose Capture Text (or Capture QR Code for a code).
- Drag a box over the text. Press Esc to cancel.
- Paste with Command-V wherever you were working.
A small "Copied to clipboard" confirmation appears, with an optional sound. If you use several displays, the selection works on each of them.
Recognition runs on the Mac with Apple's Vision text recognition. There is no upload, no account and no internet connection involved; the app has no network access at all.
Launch at login
Launch at login is an option in Settings and is off by default. Turn it on if you want the icon there every time you start your Mac.
The history lives in the same menu
Click the icon and the popover shows your last 20 captures, each with a small thumbnail and the time. From there you can:
- copy a capture again
- open a link that was captured
- have a capture read aloud with macOS voices
- delete one capture or clear the whole list
The history is stored only on your Mac.
What you can capture
- Text in any language it supports. 21 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Ukrainian, each can be switched on or off.
- Code. Code mode keeps indentation and turns off language correction.
- QR and other 2D codes. QR, Micro QR, Aztec, Data Matrix and PDF417. By default, if a text capture contains a code, the code's content is copied instead.
- Text in places you cannot select. Error dialogs, paused videos, screen shares, remote desktops, app interfaces.
Also by me: if you want launchers on screen rather than more menu bar icons, Jetty adds up to four extra docks to the edges of your screen, each with tabs of one-click tiles for apps, files, folders, websites and Shortcuts (Jetty facts).
Where Optic does not fit
- It does not open image or PDF files. If you have a file, open it in Preview first.
- It does not process many files at once or make searchable PDFs.
- It does not translate text or extract tables.
- It does not read 1D barcodes or scan with the camera.
- Handwriting is not a promised feature.
- It needs the Screen Recording permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security; the first launch walks you through it.
Related reading: copy text from anything on your screen, screen OCR on Mac and a look at other apps in screen OCR apps for Mac. TextSniper, TRex, Shottr and CleanShot X are other apps people use for screen OCR on a Mac.
FAQ
Is there a menu bar OCR app for Mac?
Yes, several, and my pick is Optic (I build it): you click its menu bar icon, choose Capture Text, drag over the text, and it is on your clipboard.
Does Optic show up in the Dock?
No. It runs only as a menu bar icon, with no Dock icon and no main window.
Why does a menu bar OCR app need Screen Recording permission?
To read the pixels inside the box you draw, macOS requires that permission. Optic reads only the area you select.
Does menu bar OCR work offline?
Optic does. Text recognition runs on the Mac and the app has no network access.