Capture text from almost any on-screen content
Press ⌘⇧2 and drag over text in an image, video, PDF, website, or app. PixelRead uses Apple Vision to turn the selected region into editable text immediately.
PixelRead
PixelRead is a Mac OCR utility that captures text from screen regions and turns it into editable text, with on-device translation and additional Apple Intelligence actions on supported Macs. It helps users copy, translate, summarize, rewrite, extract, and ask questions about on-screen text without moving it into another app.
Overview
PixelRead is a Mac OCR utility that captures text from regions of the screen and turns it into usable text right away. It works with screenshots, images, videos, PDFs, websites, and app interfaces, using the ⌘⇧2 shortcut to select a region and recognize the text with Apple Vision.
After capture, PixelRead can copy the text, translate it on-device, or—on a supported Mac with Apple Intelligence—summarize, rewrite, extract details, and answer questions grounded in the recognized text. The app lives in the menu bar and is designed to keep the workflow in one place instead of moving text into another app.
What you can do with PixelRead
Work without copying between apps
Copy the recognized text directly to the clipboard, or open the same action bar on text that is already selected in another app.
Translate on-device
Translate captured text beside the original using Apple’s on-device translation framework, which keeps the text on your Mac.
Summarize on supported Macs
On a supported Mac with macOS 26 and Apple Intelligence, turn captured text into a concise summary without sending it to a server.
Generate text-based outputs from captures
Ask a focused question, rewrite text, or extract names, dates, numbers, links, decisions, and action items from the recognized text.
Review and revisit recent captures
Read original, translated, or generated text aloud and reopen the 12 most recent captures with their recognized text.
Practical ways to use PixelRead
Extract text from screen content
Select text in a screenshot, image, PDF, or app window and turn it into editable text without retyping.
Read and translate on-screen text
Capture text in another language, then translate it beside the original before copying or reviewing it.
Summarize or question captured text
Turn a long passage into bullet-point notes, or ask for a focused answer based only on the text you captured.
Clean up and structure captured information
Polish copied text, pull out names, dates, numbers, links, decisions, or action items, and then paste the result into your workflow.
Work with selected text across apps
Open the same action bar on text that is already selectable in another app when you want OCR-like actions without capturing a region first.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Captures text from many screen sources, including images, videos, PDFs, websites, and apps.
- Uses Apple Vision for on-device OCR and Apple’s translation framework for on-device translation.
- Can summarize, rewrite, extract, and answer questions from recognized text on supported Macs.
- Includes text-to-speech and a 12-capture history for revisiting recent results.
- Listed as free, with no checkout, key, or account required to download.
Cons
- Apple Intelligence actions require a supported Mac running macOS 26, so the full feature set is not available on every machine.
- The app does not list QR/barcode recognition, repeat-capture shortcuts, or custom OCR words on the PixelRead page, which may matter for users who need those extras.
FAQ
What does PixelRead require to run?
PixelRead runs on a Mac with macOS 15.2 or later. It is listed as Universal, so it works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Is PixelRead free or paid?
The product page says PixelRead is free: no purchase is needed, and the app can be downloaded without checkout, a key, or an account.
What can I do with captured text after OCR?
Yes. PixelRead can copy recognized text, translate it on-device beside the original, summarize text on supported Macs with Apple Intelligence, rewrite text, extract details, answer questions, and read text aloud.
Is PixelRead safe to install?
The page says PixelRead is notarized by Apple and hand-reviewed by AppUnbound before it reaches the store.
Can PixelRead work with text that is already selectable?
Yes. The page says PixelRead can act on text already selected in another app, so you do not always need to capture a fresh screenshot region first.
Quick Facts
- Category
- Productivity
- Platform
- Mac
- Requirements
- macOS 15.2 or later; Universal for Apple Silicon and Intel
- Pricing
- Free
- Developer
- AppUnbound
- Workflow
- Screen OCR, translation, summarization, rewriting, extraction, and Q&A
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