CopyLasso is a free, open-source macOS app that copies text and supported codes from anywhere on your screen. Press your keyboard shortcut and drag over the content. CopyLasso puts the result on your clipboard. The default shortcut is Command-Shift-2.

Recognition runs on your Mac with Apple Vision. CopyLasso does not upload or save screenshots.

Install CopyLasso

CopyLasso 0.3.1 is the latest release. It requires macOS 14 or later and runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

1. Download CopyLasso 0.3.1.
2. Open CopyLasso-0.3.1.dmg.
3. Drag CopyLasso to Applications, then open it.
4. Follow the setup prompts and grant Screen Recording access when macOS asks.

To verify the download, place the DMG and checksum file in the same folder and run:

shasum -a 256 -c CopyLasso-0.3.1.dmg.sha256

The command should print CopyLasso-0.3.1.dmg: OK.

Use CopyLasso

1. Press your keyboard shortcut or choose Capture from the menu bar.
2. Drag over text or a supported code. Press Esc to cancel.
3. Paste the recognized content into another app.

CopyLasso recognizes ordinary text plus QR, Code 128, Data Matrix, PDF417, and Aztec codes. Code payloads are copied as plain text; CopyLasso never opens or runs them.

Open Settings to change the shortcut, choose OCR languages, control update checks and sound, start CopyLasso at login, or enable capture history.

Capture history is optional and off by default. When enabled, it stores only successful text and code results in an encrypted local archive. It never stores screenshots.

Privacy

CopyLasso has no accounts, analytics, telemetry, cloud OCR, or content upload. Screen capture and recognition stay on your Mac. The app uses the network only to check its authenticated update feed, and you can turn off automatic checks.

Read Privacy for data-handling details. To report a vulnerability, follow the instructions in Security.

Limitations

• OCR works best with clear, horizontal text. Handwriting, rotated text, tables, and complex layouts can be less accurate.
• Each selection must stay on one display.
• macOS can block capture of protected content.

Build from source

Open CopyLasso.xcodeproj in Xcode 26.6 and run the CopyLasso scheme. To run the repository's formatting, build, test, coverage, offline, and Universal 2 checks, use:

./scripts/ci.sh

See Contributing before submitting a change. Third-party dependencies and licenses are listed in Third-party notices.

License

CopyLasso is available under the MIT License.