Mac tipsThe Unpixel blog
Practical guides for getting text, tables and links off your Mac’s screen. Every article shows the free, built-in macOS way first, then where Unpixel saves time.
- Mac tips
Mac tipsHow to copy and paste on a Mac (and paste smarter)
Copy and paste on a Mac with ⌘C and ⌘V, the Edit menu or a two-finger click, plus pasting without formatting, iPhone-to-Mac pasting and text that won’t select.
Tables & dataCopy a table from a website into Excel or Sheets
Get a table from a web page into Excel or Google Sheets with its columns intact: plain copy and paste, IMPORTHTML, and what to do with tables that won’t copy.
How-toCopy text from a photo on Mac: pages, signs, whiteboards
Pull text out of a camera photo on your Mac: fix tilt, glare and curved pages in Photos or Preview, then copy it with Live Text or read many photos at once.
How-toCopy text from PowerPoint slides, including text in images
Copy every slide’s text from a PowerPoint deck on Mac with Outline view, get the speaker notes out, and pull words from pictures and PDF-only decks.
How-toHow to copy any text on your Mac screen
Copy text from anywhere on your Mac screen: select it properly, use Live Text on images and paused video, a screenshot plus Live Text, or a single shortcut.
How-toHow to copy text from a screen share or video call on Mac
Copy a link, command or paragraph from someone else’s shared screen in Zoom, Teams, Meet or FaceTime: ask in chat, use Live Text, or capture it during the call.
How-toCopy text from a screenshot on Mac (or skip the screenshot)
Get the text out of a Mac screenshot with Quick Look, Preview or the floating thumbnail, read one on the clipboard, or capture the words with no file at all.
How-toHow to copy text from a website that won’t let you
Some sites block selecting, right-clicking or copying. Here’s why, and the fixes that work on a Mac: Reader, PDF export, page source, JavaScript off and OCR.
Comparisons & roundupsFree OCR on Mac: every option that costs nothing
Free OCR on a Mac: Live Text, Preview’s Embed Text, a Shortcuts action, open-source apps such as TRex and NormCap, and online tools, with the catch for each.
How-toHow to get the Wi-Fi password from a QR code
A Wi-Fi QR code stores the network name and password as plain text. Decode it on a Mac or iPhone, find the password after P:, and join the network by hand.
OCR explainedHandwriting to text on Mac: what works in 2026
Turn handwritten notes into typed text on a Mac: Live Text on scans and photos, Scribble on iPad, print vs cursive accuracy, and writing habits that help OCR.
Tables & dataImage to Excel on Mac: turn a table picture into cells
Turn a screenshot or photo of a table into Excel cells on a Mac: Excel’s Data From Picture, what online converters upload, and on-device table capture.
Privacy & securityIs online OCR safe? What happens to your files
Free online OCR sites keep a copy of your file on someone else’s server. What their policies say, what never to upload, and how to do OCR on your Mac instead.
Privacy & securityIs Screen Recording permission safe to grant?
What a Mac app can see once you allow Screen & System Audio Recording, why capture and meeting apps ask for it, how to judge an app, and when to revoke it.
Mac tipsMac keyboard shortcuts worth learning first
The Mac keyboard shortcuts that save the most time, grouped by job: apps and windows, Finder, screenshots and screen text, and system, plus what ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧ mean.
Comparisons & roundupsLive Text vs Google Lens on Mac: which is better?
Live Text vs Google Lens on a Mac, as of October 2026: where each one works, copying and translating text, what gets sent to Google, and which to use when.
Mac tipsMac keyboard symbols explained: ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧ and more
What ⌘, ⌥, ⌃, ⇧ and the other Mac key symbols mean, where those keys are, their Windows equivalents, how to read a shortcut like ⇧⌘2 and how to type them.
OCR explainedHow to improve OCR accuracy: practical tips
Get cleaner OCR from screens, PDFs and video: zoom first, select tightly, hide the pointer, pause on a sharp frame, set the language and check the numbers.
OCR explainedOCR for Chinese, Japanese and Korean text
Chinese OCR on a Mac, plus Japanese and Korean: Simplified vs Traditional, furigana, vertical text, Hangul spacing, joining lines, and the settings that help.
WorkflowsCopy text from lectures, slides and PDFs: a student’s guide
OCR for students on a Mac: get text from lecture recordings, slides and scanned readings into your notes, quote it with page numbers, and know the limits.
TranslationOffline translation on Mac: download languages first
Translate on a Mac without internet: download languages in System Settings, use On-Device Mode, see which features work offline and what to check before a trip.
Privacy & securityOpen apps from outside the App Store on Mac (safely)
macOS blocked an app from an unidentified developer? How Gatekeeper works, how to use Open Anyway in Privacy & Security, and what to check before you allow it.
How-toRemove line breaks from text copied from a PDF
Text copied from a PDF pastes as short, broken lines. Join them in Pages, Word or a code editor, rejoin split words, and keep real paragraphs and lists intact.