How to translate text on your Mac screen

macOS can translate text you select, and Safari can translate a whole page. That covers a lot of reading. It stops at the text you cannot select: a frame of video, a game, a remote desktop window. Here are three ways, built-in ones first.

Option 1: right-click and Translate

Select the text.
Right-click and choose Translate "…".

A panel shows the translation next to the original, and you can copy from it or change the language.

The catch is in the first step. The text has to be selectable, so this works in a document, a web page, an email or a message, and not on a video frame or an app that draws its own text.

In Safari, the same feature also works on a whole page: click the Translate button in the address bar. That is for web pages only, and only for the languages Safari supports.

Option 2: Live Text, for text inside an image

In Preview, Photos, Quick Look and Safari, move the pointer over text in an image. It turns into a text cursor. Drag to select, right-click, then choose Translate.

This is free and built in. It saves you from retyping a message from a screenshot or a photo of a page. It only works inside those apps, and only on text the system can read in the image, so a blurred or very small line may not select.

Option 3: one shortcut with Lightcap

Press ⌃⌘6, or press ⌃⌘` and then 0.
Drag over the text.

A card shows the translation with the original underneath, and the translation is copied to your clipboard in the same step.

It works on text you cannot select: a paused video, a game, a remote desktop window, an app that draws its own text.
It uses the translation that is built into macOS, running on the Mac. Nothing is sent anywhere. The first time you use a language pair, macOS may ask to download that language.
The target language is your system language by default. Change it in Settings > Screenshots > Translation.
Wrapped lines are joined into paragraphs before translating, so a sentence broken across four lines comes back as one sentence. Separate lines, such as menu items or list entries, stay separate.
The app is 3.3 MB. Free for 7 days with every feature, no account or card. Then $10 for 1 Mac or $25 for 3 Macs at the launch price through December 31, 2026, and $15 or $35 after.

Which one to use

Text in a document, a page or a message: select it and right-click, Translate. Nothing to install.
A whole web page in Safari: the Translate button in the address bar.
Text inside an image in Preview, Photos or Quick Look: select it with Live Text, then Translate.
A video, a game, a remote desktop window, or any text you cannot select: Lightcap, one shortcut and one drag.

Questions

How do I translate text on my Mac?

Select the text, right-click and choose Translate. That works in most apps, as long as the text can be selected.

Can I translate text in a video, a game or a remote desktop window on Mac?

Not with the built-in Translate command, because there is nothing to select. Lightcap translates by sight: press Control-Command-6, drag over the text, and the translation is copied to the clipboard.

Does translating on screen send my text to a server?

Lightcap uses the translation that is built into macOS and runs on the Mac, so nothing is sent anywhere. The first time you use a language pair, macOS may ask to download that language.

Download Lightcap for Mac and try every feature free for 7 days. No account or card needed. It runs on macOS 15 or later.