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How It Works

Screen Capture Translation

1. Press shortcut — Hit Cmd + E (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

Text Selection Translation

1. Select text — Highlight text in any app
2. Press shortcut — Hit Cmd + Option + Z (customizable) to translate
3. Read translation — Translation appears instantly — no OCR needed

Quick Translate

1. Press shortcut — Hit Cmd + Shift + E (customizable) to open the mini translation panel
2. Type text — Enter the text you want to translate
3. Press Enter — Translation appears below. Use Shift + Enter for new lines

No copy-paste, no browser tabs, no context switching.

Features

• Free & Open Source — No subscription, no ads, no hidden costs. Licensed under GPL-3.0
• 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
• Text Selection Translation — Select text in any app and translate directly — no OCR needed. Supports even more languages with cloud engines
• Quick Translate — Type and translate instantly with a minimal floating panel
• 20 Languages — Auto-detect source language supported. Full list below
• Works Offline — Download language packs once, translate anywhere without internet
• Optional Cloud Engines (BYOK) — Already works without any API key. Optionally connect DeepL, Google Cloud, or Azure for more languages
• Auto Copy — Translation results are copied to clipboard by default (can be disabled in Settings)
• Translation History — Every translation is saved. Search and copy previous results anytime
• Menu Bar App — Lightweight, always available, never in the way

Supported Languages

Korean	English	Japanese	Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)	French	German	Spanish
Portuguese	Italian	Russian	Arabic
Dutch	Hindi	Indonesian	Polish
Thai	Turkish	Ukrainian	Vietnamese

All powered by Apple Translation — on-device and offline capable. Connect your own API key (DeepL, Google, Azure) for additional languages.

Requirements

• macOS 15 Sequoia or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel

Installation

Download DMG

Download the latest version from the website.

Homebrew

brew tap hcmhcs/tap
brew install --cask screentranslate

We're aiming to get listed on the official Homebrew Cask — if you find this useful, a ⭐ on GitHub would really help!

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. Grant Accessibility permission for text selection translation (System Settings → Privacy & Security)
4. Press Cmd + E and drag over any text on screen — or select text and press Cmd + Option + Z — or press Cmd + Shift + E to type and translate
5. 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.