Pinch to zoom
Pinch or pan with two fingers to get close to small type before you circle it.
macOS Lens
Circle to Search, on your Mac
Press ⌘⇧2 to freeze the screen. Circle anything to search it with Google Lens, or tap its words to copy, translate or hear them.
$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SharonHart/macos-lens/main/scripts/install.sh | bash- Price
- Free
- Needs
- macOS 14 or later
- Runs on
- Apple silicon and Intel
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Tue 9:41
Tue 9:41
Hollis Furniture
Butterfly chair, leather and steel
$189
A folding steel frame with a cognac leather sling. Ships flat in one box.
«Comodissima. La uso ogni sera sul balcone e si chiude in un attimo.»“Very comfortable. I use it every evening on the balcony, and it folds in a second.”Giulia, Bologna
Add to cartButterfly chairVisual matches
Visual matches
Butterfly sling chair, black leatherloftline.example$164
Folding lounge chair, olive suedeharbourhome.example$210
Sling chair with steel frame, tannorthfield.example$189
Replacement cover for butterfly chairsfabricshed.example$48
Thirty seconds of the real app. Recorded on macOS 26.
Recorded in the real app with a scripted pointer, on pages written for the demo.
Copy, translate or hear any text on your screen
Copy words from anything
A screen share, a paused video, a photo of a whiteboard. Tap a word or drag across a line, then Copy. The handles adjust the selection.
Translate it where it is
The translation covers the original in the same place, so a menu still reads like a menu. It runs on the Mac once the language pair is downloaded. Show original flips it back.
Listen to a passage
Select a paragraph and choose Listen. Your Mac reads it aloud in its own voice. Try it here: your browser's voice reads the paragraph.
Juniper Lane library opens late on Thursdays
By Ana Ruiz · 4 min read
From next week the library stays open until 9 pm on Thursdays. The reading room gets twelve new desks, and the children's corner moves downstairs, next to the garden door.
Volunteers can sign up at the front desk.
Act on what it finds
Email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, links, tracking numbers and dates get the action that fits: write, call, open Maps, open the page, track the parcel, add to the calendar.
H
Hollis Furnitureorders@hollisfurniture.shop
Your butterfly chair is on its way
- Tracking
- RA123456785GB
- Arrives
- Thursday 14 May
- Deliver to
- 42 Juniper Lane, Brookfield
Questions? Call +1 415 555 0142 or write to help@hollisfurniture.shop. Your order is also at hollisfurniture.shop/orders.
More from the frozen screen
Brackets you can move
Drag a corner to resize the selection or drag inside it to move it. The results follow.
A Select text chip
When the area you circled has words in it, one tap switches to selecting them.
All the text at once
⌘⇧1 opens the same view with every word on screen already selected.
Lives in the menu bar
Click the icon to start a search. Right-click it for settings and the shortcuts.
Open in your browser
Hand the search over to your default browser, with the image you circled.
Your screen stays on your Mac. A search sends the part you chose, and only after you allow it.
On this Mac
- Freezing the screen ScreenCaptureKit
- Reading the text Apple Vision
- Translating after a one-time language download
- Listen the Mac's own voices
- Smart actions dates, phones, addresses, links
Sent to Google when you search
- The area you selected an image of that area only
- Words you type in the bar to narrow the search
- Translate with Google only when you agree each time
- The results sheet's cookies kept apart from your browser
The first visual search asks before anything is sent. Choose Allow visual search, or keep to the text tools; you can turn it off again in Settings & privacy. Visual search uses an unofficial Google Lens endpoint, so a change on Google's side can break it until the app is updated.
Questions and limits
Is this made by Google?
No. macOS Lens is independent and not affiliated with Google or Apple. Visual search uses an unofficial Google Lens endpoint that can change at any time.
What leaves my Mac?
Only the area you search and any words you type. Capture, text recognition and smart actions stay on the Mac. Privacy in detail
macOS says “macOS Lens” Not Opened. What now?
Click Done, not Move to Trash. Then open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway; it shows there for about an hour after the blocked open. Releases are ad-hoc signed, not notarized by Apple, so copies from the DMG or Homebrew get this dialog. The Terminal installer’s download isn’t marked as coming from the internet, so it doesn’t. macOS 14 words the dialog differently; close it without Move to Trash. macOS also asks for Screen Recording again after each update.
Which Macs does it run on?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
Does macOS Lens work offline?
Text selection, Copy, Listen, smart actions and downloaded translations work offline. Visual search needs a connection.
What if ⌘⇧1 is already taken?
macOS Lens then uses Control-Shift-1, or Control-Option-T if that is taken too.
Is it free?
Yes, and the source is on GitHub. If it saves you time, you can buy the developer a coffee.
Install macOS Lens. Free, for macOS 14 or later.
$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SharonHart/macos-lens/main/scripts/install.sh | bashDownloads the latest release, checks its checksum and code signature, installs it and opens it. A download made in Terminal isn’t marked as coming from the internet, so there is no “Not Opened” dialog. Run it again to update.
$ brew tap SharonHart/macos-lens https://github.com/SharonHart/macos-lens
brew trust --tap sharonhart/macos-lens
brew install --cask macos-lensHomebrew 7 and later load a third-party tap only after you trust it. Update with brew upgrade.
Open the DMG and drag macOS Lens onto Applications. At first open, macOS says “macOS Lens” Not Opened: click Done, not Move to Trash, then see step 1. To build it yourself, run ./scripts/install.sh --from-source in a clone.
First launch on macOS
- 1DMG or Homebrew: Done, then Open AnywayIf macOS says “macOS Lens” Not Opened, click Done, not Move to Trash. Then click Open Anyway in Privacy & Security; it shows for about an hour.
- 2Screen RecordingTurn macOS Lens on in Screen & System Audio Recording, then Quit & Reopen.
- 3After each updateTurn Screen Recording on again; macOS sees each build as a new app.
Search
General
Appearance
Desktop & Dock
Notifications
Privacy & Security
Keyboard
Privacy & Security
Location ServicesOn
Accessibility
Screen & System Audio Recording
macOS Lens2Security
“macOS Lens” was blocked to protect your Mac.
1Open AnywayFree, and the source is on GitHub. If it saves you time, you can buy me a coffee.
Buy me a coffee