Selectable

What is Selectable?

Selectable is a macOS app for capturing and extracting text from anywhere on your screen. It lets you select text in apps even when you’re working with content that isn’t directly selectable, including text that appears over images and videos.

Once captured, Selectable supports copying the extracted text to your clipboard, translating it, and listening to it using text-to-speech. The app is designed to run on-device and capture text without requiring uploads or interrupting your workflow.

Key Features

• Capture text from anywhere on your Mac’s screen: Start a capture using a shortcut or the menu bar, then drag to select the text you want to extract.
• Works across apps with global keyboard shortcuts: Trigger capture from any app to reduce context switching.
• Auto-translate on copy (macOS 26+): Translate the captured text into your language the moment you copy it.
• Text-to-speech for captured text: Listen to the extracted text with natural voices, with support for multiple languages.
• Output customization options: Preserve line breaks, remove empty lines, and mask sensitive data in the output.
• Uses on-device processing: The app is described as running entirely on-device.

How to Use Selectable

1. Start a capture by pressing ⌘⇧ (as shown on the site) or by choosing “Capture” from the menu bar.
2. Drag over the text you want to extract. Selectable recognizes the text and copies it, with translation applied when enabled and supported.
3. Paste the result into any app, or use the listening feature to hear the captured text via text-to-speech.

Use Cases

• Extract text from screen content you can’t select: When the text on your screen isn’t selectable normally, use Selectable’s capture flow to extract it and copy it.
• Translate text while copying: In workflows like reading foreign-language documentation or messages, capture the text and get a translated version placed on your clipboard (macOS 26+).
• Review text with text-to-speech: For accessibility or quick proofreading, capture text and listen to it with the app’s natural voices.
• Clean up clipboard text for notes or tasks: Use output options such as preserving line breaks or removing empty lines so the clipboard text fits how you work.
• Protect sensitive information in extracted output: Mask sensitive data in the text Selectable outputs to help prevent accidental exposure.

FAQ

• What permissions does Selectable need? The site does not specify required permissions in the provided content.

• Is my data private? The site states that Selectable runs entirely on-device. It also describes capture as requiring “no uploads,” but the exact privacy/processing details aren’t further specified.

• What’s the difference between the website and App Store versions? The page indicates both options exist (website and Mac App Store), but it does not provide functional differences in the provided content.

• Do I need an internet connection? The provided content does not mention whether an internet connection is required.

• Does it support multiple languages? Yes. The site states that text-to-speech supports multiple languages, and auto-translate is available on macOS 26+.

Alternatives

• macOS built-in text selection and Live Text features: Built-in options may work for selectable text but won’t address all cases where screen text isn’t selectable.
• Screenshot OCR workflows: Using an OCR approach on captured images can extract text from visuals, but the workflow typically involves an OCR step rather than a direct capture-and-copy flow.
• Translation-focused clipboard tools: These center on translating selected or clipboard text; they may require more manual steps than capturing and translating immediately.
• Accessibility text-to-speech tools: System or app-based TTS can read text you paste in, but it may not streamline the capture-to-TTS workflow from anywhere on-screen.