Capture any area or select text directly — get instant translation.
Powered by Apple Translation — entirely on-device.
Free forever · No hidden costs · No account required
The video shows the old capture shortcut (⌘⇧T). It's now ⌘E, and you can change shortcuts in Settings.
Hit Cmd + E to enter selection mode.
Draw a rectangle around the text you want to translate.
Translation appears in a popup near your selection in under a second.
Drag over the text below to see how ScreenTranslate works.
No context switching. No copy-paste into a browser. Just select and read.
All processing happens on your Mac. Your text never leaves the device — no servers, no tracking, no personal data collected.
One shortcut triggers area selection, OCR recognition, and translation — all in a single fluid motion.
Select text in any app and translate directly — no screen capture or OCR needed. Supports even more languages with cloud engines.
Download language packs once, translate anywhere — no internet connection required after initial setup.
Every translation is automatically saved. Search, review, and copy previous results anytime from the menu bar.
Lightweight menu bar app that uses minimal system resources. Only use shortcuts? Hide the menu bar icon in Settings.
Auto-detect source language · Powered by Apple Translation · All on-device
Menu bar access, translation history, and customizable settings.
No subscription, no hidden costs, no ads. 100% free with no strings attached.
Fully transparent code. Inspect, contribute, or fork — your choice.
Bring your own DeepL, Google Cloud, or Azure key for specialized needs. Learn more →
Yes, completely free. No subscription, no account, no hidden costs. ScreenTranslate is open source under the GPL-3.0 license.
Yes. Download language packs once, then translate anywhere without internet. All OCR and translation processing happens entirely on your Mac.
Yes. ScreenTranslate uses Apple Translation on-device. Your text never leaves your Mac — no servers, no tracking, no personal data collected. Only anonymous usage statistics (such as which features are used) are sent; see the Privacy Policy. The code is open source so you can verify this yourself.
20 languages including English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, and more. Auto-detect source language is supported. Connect your own API key for additional languages.
Google Translate is web-based and sends your text to Google servers. ScreenTranslate works entirely on your Mac, can capture any text on screen via OCR — including non-selectable text in images, PDFs, and games — and works offline.
DeepL requires internet and a subscription ($10.49+/month) for full features. ScreenTranslate is completely free, works offline, and has OCR screen capture. You can optionally use DeepL quality by adding your own API key.
Yes. Press Cmd+E, drag over any area of your screen, and ScreenTranslate uses Apple Vision OCR to recognize and translate the text instantly — even text that cannot be selected or copied.
Yes, with Live Translate (beta). Turn it on in Settings → Advanced → Beta Features, drag over the subtitle area, and the translation keeps updating as the subtitles change. It uses Apple Translation only, and protected videos such as Netflix can't be captured.
Yes. Turn off Show Menu Bar Icon in Settings → General. Your shortcuts keep working, and opening ScreenTranslate again brings up Settings.
Free forever · No hidden costs · No account · No personal data collected
Download DMGOr install with Homebrew: brew tap hcmhcs/tap && brew install --cask screentranslate · All releases on GitHub
macOS 15 Sequoia+ · Apple Silicon + Intel · Free
