Overview
Ghost Text reinvents text recognition for macOS. Whether it's text locked inside an image, a PDF, a video frame, or a UI that won't let you select — Ghost Text captures it all with a single keyboard shortcut.
All processing happens entirely on your device using Apple's built-in Vision framework. Nothing is ever sent to a server.
Key Features
- Capture from anywhere: Extract text from images, PDFs, screenshots, video frames, and any screen region
- 100% offline: All OCR runs locally via macOS Vision — your content never leaves your device
- Global shortcut: Trigger capture with CMD+Shift+2 from any app
- Instant clipboard: Recognized text is automatically copied and ready to paste
- Clipboard history: Access previously captured text without re-scanning
- Menu bar access: Quick one-click capture directly from the status bar
- Lifetime license: One-time payment of $4.99, all updates included
Verdict
Ghost Text is the fastest way to get unselectable text off your screen and into your clipboard. The offline-first approach is the right call — no accounts, no subscriptions, no data leaving your Mac.