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How to copy text from a video on Mac

Paused a tutorial on a line of code, or a lecture on a slide full of references? You can copy the words straight off the frame instead of typing them out.

// paused at 6:42
const res = await fetch(url)

Steps

  1. Pause the video on the frame with the text. It works with YouTube, Zoom and Meet screen shares, Loom, QuickTime and anything else on screen.
  2. Press ⇧⌘2. The screen dims and a yellow tip says Drag to select.
  3. Drag over the text you want. Let go and a bar appears under your selection.
  4. Press T (or click the text icon). The text flies into slot 1 of the clipboard at the edge of your screen.
  5. Click into your editor or notes and press ⌘V, or click Paste on the clipboard item.

Tips

  • Code keeps its line breaks and indentation, so it pastes ready to run.
  • Headings and lists paste formatted in Notes, Mail and Docs, and as plain text in code editors.
  • Watching a talk with changing slides? ⌥⌘2 grabs the same spot again, so you can copy each slide without dragging every time.
  • Text in another language gets a Translate button in the confirmation, on macOS 15 or later.

Without Pluck

macOS can do part of this on its own. On macOS 13 or later, pause a video in Safari or QuickTime Player, hover the text until the pointer becomes an I-beam, select it and press ⌘C. That only works in those two apps and only on a paused frame; screen shares, other players and slides inside a call need a tool that reads the screen.