Ghost Text captures text from any part of the macOS screen, including content that cannot be selected or copied through normal interaction — such as text inside images, PDFs with locked permissions, video frames, or UI elements that block standard selection. The app uses Apple’s built-in Vision framework to perform optical character recognition entirely on-device. (Free)
Capture is triggered from the menu bar, allowing users to draw a selection region anywhere on screen. The recognized text is copied directly to the clipboard without requiring any intermediate interface steps. Because the Vision framework operates locally, no screenshots or text are transmitted to external servers. The approach works across standard macOS applications, browsers, media players, and system dialogs.
Ghost Text is designed for situations where text appears visually on screen but conventional copy-paste is blocked by the application or content format. Common use cases include extracting text from error dialogs, copying content from video tutorials, reading text embedded in images, and accessing text in locked PDF documents.
System requirements: macOS required; Vision framework availability varies by macOS version; best results on macOS 13 or later. Supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Pricing: (Free)
Limitations: OCR accuracy depends on font clarity, image resolution, and contrast; handwritten or stylized text may yield reduced accuracy. Capture requires manually drawing a selection region each time; global keyboard shortcut support is planned but not available at launch. Non-Latin scripts and complex layouts may produce inconsistent results.
Alternatives: TextSniper ($9.99 one-time) provides similar screen OCR with global shortcut support and additional language options. T-Rex (free, open-source) performs screen text recognition using the same Vision framework. Shottr (free) is a screenshot utility with built-in OCR that can copy text from selections.
Suitable for users who regularly encounter text they cannot select — in locked PDFs, embedded images, or restrictive applications — and need a quick, offline method to extract it to the clipboard.
