Text Selection Panel

Text Selection Panel turns visible text from a selected screen region into selectable text. It is useful for text that cannot be selected normally, such as content rendered in a canvas, an image, or a custom interface.

Open Text Selection Panel

1. Enter Element Menu Mode for the focused window or the element below the cursor.
2. If needed, hold Shift while typing element hints to select multiple elements.
3. Hold Space to open the menu, then choose Text Selection Panel (hint V).

Cursor Crane takes the smallest bounding rectangle around the selected elements, captures that region, and runs OCR on the screenshot. The panel opens at the same screen position and size as the captured region.

Note

Text Selection Panel requires Screen Recording permission so Cursor Crane can capture the selected region.

Select Recognized Text

The panel uses the OCR screenshot as its background. A transparent native text view is placed over it, so the text remains selectable while the screenshot stays visible underneath.

• Drag across the text to select it.
• Copy the selection with the normal macOS text commands.
• The original application is not modified; the panel only provides a selectable representation of the captured text.

Cursor Crane maps recognized lines and text segments back to their positions in the screenshot. Alignment depends on the OCR result and can be less exact for unusual fonts, rotated text, or low-resolution content.

Find Text in the Panel

Press Command + F to show the native find bar inside the panel. Enter a query to find matching text in the OCR result, then use the find bar controls to move between matches.

The find bar is part of the text view, so it searches the panel’s recognized text rather than the original application.

Use Input Mode

Because Text Selection Panel contains a native text view, you can enter Input Mode while the panel is focused. Input Mode gives you keyboard controls for:

• Finding text and moving between matches.
• Moving the text cursor through the recognized text.
• Selecting text at the cursor or extending a selection to the next or previous match.

Use the shortcuts configured in Settings > Input. See the Input Mode guide for the available find, cursor movement, and selection commands.

Close the Panel

Press Esc to close Text Selection Panel. Moving focus to another application does not close it automatically, so you can switch applications while keeping the captured text available.

Permissions and Limitations

Text Selection Panel needs Screen Recording permission. If capture is blocked, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen & System Audio Recording and allow Cursor Crane.

The panel is read-only: its text can be selected and copied, but it cannot be edited or replaced. OCR quality depends on the captured image, display scale, language, and text layout.