Global capture shortcut
A frozen selection overlay with Retina resolution, multi-display support, and Escape or right-click cancellation.
Free & open source · MIT · macOS 14+
Copy text from anything on your screen.
OpenGlyph is a menu bar app for your Mac. Press ⌘⇧2, drag over text or a QR code, then paste. Apple Vision recognizes everything on your Mac, with no account or network requests.
Apple Silicon or Intel. Native Swift, no third-party dependencies.
On-device · Private
⌘⇧2
Select. Copy. Paste.
This is the whole workflow. Try the gesture here: drag a box over any of the words below.
Frozen selection
Drag to select · Esc cancels
Good tools save a little time, a hundred times a day.
Screenshots, PDFs, slides, video frames, error dialogs, QR codes.
- 01Press ⌘⇧2
The screen freezes into a selection overlay, at Retina resolution, on every display.
- 02Drag over it
Text, a QR code or a barcode. Escape or right-click cancels.
- 03Paste
The recognized text is on your clipboard and in your local history.
What works
Everything the shortcut can reach.
Text, QR codes, barcodes
Offline text recognition, plus QR codes and barcodes.
Clipboard & file import
Import clipboard images and files. PNG, JPEG, TIFF, HEIC, and multi-page PDF.
Searchable history
Local history with text, link, and code filters. Click to copy; right-click to view full text, open a web link, or delete.
Recognition your way
Accurate or fast recognition, automatic or explicit language selection, configurable line breaks, and optional QR web-link opening.
Fits your setup
Custom shortcuts, launch at login, permission onboarding, and URL commands for Raycast, Alfred, or Shortcuts.
Language availability comes from Apple Vision on your macOS version. Clear handwriting can work; accuracy depends on the source image. Fast mode supports fewer languages. If Apple's accurate recognizer fails internally, OpenGlyph tries backup recognition and labels the result when a backup was used.
Privacy and limits
No account.
No network requests.
Recognition runs on your Mac with Apple Vision. Screen snapshots stay in memory only for selection and recognition.
- SnapshotsKept in memory only for selection and recognition.
- HistorySaved to
~/Library/Application Support/OpenGlyph/history.jsonwhen enabled, with private file permissions. - BoundsUp to 500 captures and 32 MB. Turn it off or clear it from the menu.
- LinksOnly HTTP and HTTPS links can open. QR web-link opening is off by default.
- ImportsLimited to 100 MB, 40 million pixels, 100 PDF pages, and one million result characters.
Automation
Wire it into everything else.
URL commands for Raycast, Alfred, or Shortcuts, and a bundled executable for command-line recognition. CLI recognition does not add history.
$ open 'openglyph://capture'
$ open 'openglyph://clipboard'
$ open 'openglyph://history'
$ open 'openglyph://settings'
$ open 'openglyph://onboarding'# prints text by default
$ OpenGlyph --ocr image.png --json
$ OpenGlyph --ocr document.pdf --language de-DE --no-line-breaks
$ OpenGlyph --ocr image.png --copy
$ OpenGlyph --diagnostics
# binary: ~/Applications/OpenGlyph.app/Contents/MacOS/OpenGlyphInstall on a Mac
Three steps, then it lives in your menu bar.
-
Download
Get the latest release archive from GitHub and unzip it.
-
Move to Applications
Drag
OpenGlyph.appinto Applications and launch it. Follow the onboarding. -
Grant screen access
In System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, allow OpenGlyph. macOS may require quitting and reopening the app. File and clipboard imports work without screen access.
