Element Menu Mode

Element Menu Mode opens a small overlay menu for the focused window or the element below the cursor. It is useful when you want to inspect what Cursor Crane sees, copy information from the selected target, capture screenshots, enter Element Burst Mode, trigger accessibility actions, or favorite a window for later use in Element Mode and Scroll Mode.

Enter Element Menu Mode

You can enter Element Menu Mode from Command Mode with these commands:

CommandIdentifier	Default sequence	Target
command.enterElementMenuModeForFocusedWindow	XW	Focused window
command.enterElementMenuModeForElementBelowCursor	XE	Element below the cursor

You can also assign a dedicated shortcut to either command.

Open the Menu

After entering Element Menu Mode, Cursor Crane highlights the selected target. Hold Space to open the menu, then release Space to close it.

While the menu is open:

• Type the shown hint to activate a menu item.
• Use arrow keys to move through items.
• Press Enter to activate the selected item.
• Press Delete or the left arrow key to go back or close the menu.
• Hold Option to show alternative menu items when an item provides one.

Menu Actions

The selected target may offer actions such as:

• Open the Copy submenu to copy text and metadata from the selected element.
• Enter Element Burst Mode to extract copyable text from inside the selected element.
• Open Trigger Action to perform accessibility actions exposed by the selected element, or trigger child actions from Element Burst Mode.
• Drag-select the element’s screen bounds.
• Move the selection to the parent element.
• Favorite or unfavorite the window that contains the selected target.
• Capture screenshots of the selected element or the window that contains it.

The exact menu items depend on the current target. For example, Favorite Window is available when the selected target can be resolved back to a window.

Copy Actions

Choose Copy to open a submenu of copy actions for the selected element. The submenu can copy text and metadata from the target; items that depend on unavailable element attributes are hidden.

Copy Detected Content opens Element Burst Mode in text mode, so you can choose detected text or structured content from inside the selected element.

Action Triggers

Choose Trigger Action to open the selected element’s accessibility actions.

The Trigger Child Actions item opens Element Burst Mode in action mode, which is useful when the selected element contains buttons or controls deeper inside it.

Drag Selection

Select simulates a drag from the selected element’s top-left corner to its bottom-right corner. It is useful for workflows that ask you to choose a rectangle on screen, such as the system screenshot selection tool. It is not intended for selecting text.

Screenshot Actions

When the selected target can be resolved back to a window, Element Menu Mode can capture screenshots:

Menu item	Target	Result
Copy Screenshot	Selected element	Copies an element screenshot to the pasteboard
Copy Window Screenshot	Containing window	Copies a window screenshot to the pasteboard
Screenshot	Selected element	Saves an element screenshot to the Desktop
Window Screenshot	Containing window	Saves a window screenshot to the Desktop

Screenshot and Window Screenshot are alternative menu items. Hold Option while the menu is open to switch the screenshot items from copying the image directly to the pasteboard to saving files on the Desktop.

Favorite Windows

Favorite windows are used by Element Mode and Scroll Mode when supplementary windows are enabled. This lets those modes include important windows even when they are not the current frontmost window.

To favorite a window, enter Element Menu Mode for the focused window or for an element inside that window, hold Space , then choose Favorite Window.

Only targets that can be resolved back to a window can be favorited this way. Cursor Crane cleans up favorites that no longer exist.

Related Modes

• Element Burst Mode extracts copyable text and available actions from the selected element.
• Element Mode uses favorite windows as supplementary sources when that feature is enabled.
• Scroll Mode can also include favorite windows as supplementary sources.

Related Commands

CommandIdentifier	Action
command.enterElementMenuModeForFocusedWindow	Enter element menu for focused window
command.enterElementMenuModeForElementBelowCursor	Enter element menu for element below cursor