ClipBuddy guide
Search and copy the text inside screenshots on Mac
Your Mac can read the words inside an image. ClipBuddy indexes that text on-device, so you can find a screenshot by what it says and copy the text straight back out.
You screenshot things all day — receipts, error messages, chats, slides, code. But once it’s an image, the text is locked away: you can’t search it, and you can’t copy it out. ClipBuddy fixes both. It reads the words inside every image you copy, right on your Mac, so you can find a screenshot by its text and copy that text back out — no retyping, no upload.
Find a screenshot by what it says
Every image you copy is run through macOS’s on-device text recognition. Search “invoice” and the screenshot of an invoice surfaces in your history. Search a name, an order number, an error string — if it’s visible in the picture, ClipBuddy finds it. The recognized text is indexed for fast, prefix-friendly search, alongside all your text clips.
Copy the exact text out of an image
- Press ⌘⇧V and open the image clip.
- Choose Copy Text. The recognized text appears in a selectable panel.
- Select the word, line or block you want — or “Copy all” — and paste it anywhere.
Great for pulling a code snippet out of a screenshot, a number off a receipt, or a quote from a slide.
100% on your Mac
Recognition uses Apple’s Vision framework on-device. Your images and their text never leave your Mac — no server, no cloud OCR, no account. It works offline and keeps your screenshots private.
More than screenshot search
Screenshot text search is one part of ClipBuddy, a native macOS clipboard manager: a full searchable clipboard history, keyword snippets, reusable slots, a paste stack, an emoji picker (⌘⌥E), and developer transforms — all on-device.
Frequently asked questions
Can I search the text inside a screenshot on Mac?
Yes. ClipBuddy reads the words inside every image and screenshot you copy, using on-device macOS Vision recognition. Type any word from the image into ClipBuddy's search and the screenshot appears in your history — no upload, no cloud.
How do I copy text out of a screenshot on Mac?
Open the image clip in ClipBuddy and choose Copy Text. The recognized text appears in a selectable panel — pick the exact word, line or block you need and copy it. Recognition runs entirely on your Mac.
Does the image text recognition work offline?
Yes — it uses Apple's on-device Vision framework, so it works without a network connection and nothing about your images ever leaves your Mac.
What languages does it recognize?
It uses macOS's built-in text recognition, which supports many languages automatically, including non-Latin scripts.