Search text in screenshots on Mac: Live Text, Photos and OCR apps

Short answer

To copy text from a screenshot, open it in Preview or Photos, drag across the text, Control-click and choose Copy Text. This is Live Text, built into macOS 12 Monterey and later.

To find a screenshot by the words in it, import it into Photos and search there (⌘ F), or use a clipboard manager that reads text in images, such as Raycast (free) or NotchDesk. Press ⌃⇧⌘ 4 to copy a screenshot straight to the clipboard, and ⇧⌘ 5 → Options to change where screenshots are saved.

Which method fits what you want to do

There are two different jobs here: copying the text out of a screenshot you already have open, and finding a screenshot when you only remember what it said. macOS handles the first well. The second needs Photos or an extra app.

Method	Cost	Copy text from it	Find it by its text
Live Text in Preview or Photos	Built in (macOS 12+)	Yes	No, one image at a time
Photos search	Built in	Yes, with Live Text	Yes, for images in your Photos library
Raycast clipboard history	Free (longer history with Pro)	Yes	Yes, for images you copy
NotchDesk	14-day trial, then paid	Yes	Yes, for copied images and new screenshots
TextSniper	Paid, one-time license	Yes, from any area of the screen	No
CleanShot X	Paid	Yes, with Capture Text	No

Copy text from a screenshot with Live Text

Live Text arrived in macOS 12 Monterey, which Apple released for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs, so any Mac on Monterey or later has it. Apple notes that Live Text isn’t available in all regions or languages; the macOS Feature Availability page lists which ones are supported.

In Preview

Double-click the screenshot to open it in Preview.
Drag across the text you want.
Control-click the selection and choose Copy Text, then paste it anywhere with ⌘ V.

If the pointer won’t select anything, choose Tools → Text Selection to turn on the Text Selection tool.

In Photos

Open the image in Photos.
Move the pointer over the text and drag to select it.
Control-click and choose Copy Text, or press ⌘ C.

The same menu can look up a word, translate the text, search the web for it, or act on a phone number, email address or link in the image.

Find a screenshot by its text in Photos

Live Text helps once you’ve found the screenshot. To find it in the first place, Photos is the built-in option. Apple says you can search for text within photos to find receipts, documents and more.

Open Photos and press ⌘ F, or click the search field.
Type a word you remember from the screenshot, such as an order number or a name.
Click a suggestion to see the matching images.

The catch is that Photos only searches its own library. Screenshots saved to your desktop or a folder aren’t in it until you import them.

What about Spotlight? You open Spotlight with ⌘ Space, but Apple’s current Spotlight guide doesn’t describe finding text inside image files, and we couldn’t confirm it from an Apple source. Try it on your Mac if you like, but don’t count on it.

Where screenshots are saved, and how to change it

By default, macOS saves screenshots to the desktop as .png files. If your desktop is full of them, give them their own folder:

Press ⇧⌘ 5 to open the Screenshot toolbar.
Click Options.
Under Save to, pick one of the listed places, or choose Other Location to pick any folder.

The change sticks for future screenshots. A single folder also makes it easier to import them all into Photos when you want them searchable.

Copy a screenshot straight to the clipboard

If you only need to paste a screenshot into a message or document, skip the file:

⌃⇧⌘ 4, then drag over an area, copies that area to the clipboard.
⌃⇧⌘ 3 copies the whole screen.

Paste it with ⌘ V. No file is saved, so once you copy something else the screenshot is gone, unless a clipboard manager kept it. On macOS 26 Tahoe and later, Spotlight also keeps a short clipboard history; our guide to seeing your clipboard history on a Mac explains how it works.

Clipboard managers that search text inside images

A clipboard manager that recognizes text in images solves both jobs at once: every screenshot you copy is kept, and you can find it later by typing a word that appears in it.

Raycast

Raycast’s clipboard history is free. Its Text Recognition setting extracts text from images you copy so they can be searched alongside regular text, with a choice of Fast or Accurate recognition (Accurate handles small text and low contrast better, at a higher CPU cost). A Copy Text from Image action pulls the text out of a single image using on-device recognition. History is kept for up to 3 months on the free plan; longer periods need Raycast Pro. If you already use Raycast as your launcher, this is the easy choice.

NotchDesk

This is our app, so read this part with that in mind. NotchDesk keeps a private clipboard history on your Mac that includes images and screenshots. With Save screenshots automatically turned on (it is by default), new screenshots that macOS saves to your screenshot folder are added to the history too, even if you never copied them. It watches the folder you set in ⇧⌘ 5 → Options, or the desktop if you haven’t changed it. It adds screenshots taken while it’s running; it doesn’t import the ones already in the folder.

Text in each image is recognized on your Mac with Apple’s Vision framework. Press ⌃⌘ V in any app and type a word, and screenshots containing it appear next to your text clips. The Library (⌃⌘ L) shows the recognized text beside the image with a Copy text button, and ⌃⌥⌘ T copies the text from any area of the screen. See the Library section of the features page for the details. NotchDesk runs on macOS 14 and later and has a 14-day free trial; the first 100 buyers pay $25 for a lifetime license on one Mac or $49 for three, then it’s $9 a month or $89 a year.

Other clipboard managers handle images differently. Our comparison of Mac clipboard managers covers which ones search inside screenshots.

Other OCR tools: TextSniper and CleanShot X

If you want to grab text from anything on the screen, including video and apps that don’t let you select text, a dedicated tool may suit you better:

TextSniper captures text from any area of your screen and puts it on the clipboard. It’s a one-time purchase and runs on macOS Catalina or newer, according to its site.
CleanShot X is a full screenshot app. Its Capture Text tool reads text from a selected area, runs on-device, supports more than 30 languages and can read QR codes. It needs macOS 13 or newer.

Both are built for capturing text when you need it, rather than for searching a pile of old screenshots. For that, use Photos or a clipboard manager with text recognition.

Questions people ask

How do I search for text in my screenshots on a Mac?

Photos can search for text inside the images in your library, so import your screenshots into Photos and press ⌘ F. To search screenshots without importing them, use a clipboard manager that recognizes text in images, such as Raycast or NotchDesk.

How do I copy text from a screenshot on a Mac?

Open the screenshot in Preview or Photos, drag across the text, Control-click the selection and choose Copy Text. In Preview, if you can’t select anything, choose Tools → Text Selection first.

Which Macs support Live Text?

Macs running macOS 12 Monterey or later. Apple released Monterey for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Live Text isn’t available in every language or region; Apple’s macOS Feature Availability page has the list.

Where do screenshots go on a Mac?

To the desktop, as .png files, unless you’ve changed it. Press ⇧⌘ 5, click Options, and pick a place under Save to, or choose Other Location for any folder.

Can I take a screenshot without saving a file?

Yes. Press ⌃⇧⌘ 4 and drag over an area, or ⌃⇧⌘ 3 for the whole screen. The screenshot goes to the clipboard, ready to paste with ⌘ V, and no file is saved.

Can Spotlight find text inside a screenshot?

We couldn’t confirm it. Apple’s current Spotlight guide doesn’t describe searching the text inside image files, so we don’t rely on it. Photos search and clipboard managers with text recognition are the dependable routes.

Sources

We make NotchDesk, so we have a stake in this topic. We’ve tried to be fair to every app mentioned, and checked prices and features on each maker’s own site on the date above. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@notchdesk.com and we’ll fix it.