ScreenTranslate

Translate any text on your Mac screen — just drag to select.

Powered by Apple Vision OCR. On-device by default, with optional cloud engines.

Download · Website

	→
Drag to select		Translation result

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How It Works

1. Press shortcut — Hit Ctrl + Shift + T (customizable) to enter selection mode
2. Drag to select — Draw a rectangle around the text you want to translate
3. Read translation — Translation appears in a popup near your selection

That's it. No copy-paste, no browser tabs, no context switching.

Features

• Completely Private — On-device by default. No servers, no tracking, no data collection
• Instant Translation — One shortcut triggers area selection, OCR, and translation in a single motion
• 18 Languages — Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, and 14 more. Auto-detect source language supported
• Works Offline — Download language packs once, translate anywhere without internet
• BYOK Cloud Engines — Bring your own API key for DeepL, Google Cloud Translation, or Microsoft Azure Translator
• Auto Copy — Translation results are automatically copied to clipboard
• Translation History — Every translation is saved. Search and copy previous results anytime
• Menu Bar App — Lightweight, always available, never in the way

Requirements

• macOS 15 Sequoia or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel

Installation

Download DMG

Download the latest version from the website.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/hcmhcs/screenTranslate.git
cd screenTranslate
open ScreenTranslate.xcodeproj

Build and run with Xcode 16+.

Getting Started

1. Launch ScreenTranslate — it appears in your menu bar
2. Grant Screen Recording permission when prompted (System Settings → Privacy & Security)
3. Press Ctrl + Shift + T and drag over any text on screen
4. The translation popup appears instantly

Changing Languages

Open Settings from the menu bar icon to:

• Set source language (or leave as Auto-detect)
• Set target language
• Download language packs for offline use
• Customize the keyboard shortcut

Tech Stack

Component	Technology
UI	SwiftUI + AppKit
OCR	Apple Vision
Translation	Apple Translation (on-device), DeepL, Google, Azure
Data	SwiftData
Updates	Sparkle
Architecture	@Observable, MainActor isolation

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.