LangLens

Menu-bar translation for macOS

Translate anything
on your screen.

Highlight text, drag-select on screen, multi-select regions, or type into Quick Translate. Read it in up to two languages. On-device OCR. Only the words you select are sent to a third-party translation service.

Download for macOS

Free · Apple Silicon · macOS 13+

LangLens result bubble translating an English sentence into German and Ukrainian at the same time.

What LangLens is

LangLens is for people who keep hitting language on a Mac screen and need the meaning without leaving the work. Designers, support, ops, researchers, bilinguals, anyone reading a foreign UI, PDF, deck, or message mid-task. It translates where you already are, so understanding the screen does not cost a context switch.

Three keystrokes from foreign to familiar.

  1. ⌘⇧Space

    Press

    If text is highlighted, LangLens translates it. If not, the screen freezes for drag-select OCR.

  2. Select

    Drag a box around any text: a PDF, an app, a video frame, anything visible.

  3. Read

    Your text is translated into the languages you set in Settings. Pin a bubble to keep it and capture another.

⌘⇧M

Multi-Translate

Capture up to ten sections of your screen and get numbered translations in place, so you can run multiple translations from a single area without leaving it.

⌘⇧T

Quick Translate

A dedicated input for text. Type or paste, and the translation updates as you go, so you stay in flow instead of jumping to another tab or app.

Questions

Who is LangLens for?

Anyone who reads or works across languages on a Mac: designers checking foreign UI, people in decks and PDFs that aren’t in their language, support and ops scanning apps or tickets, bilinguals and travellers who bounce between languages all day.

Why not just use a translation website?

Because the text is already on your screen. Copying it out, opening another tab, and pasting breaks the flow, and sometimes you cannot copy it at all: a screen share, an image, or a video. LangLens translates where you’re looking, so you stay in the document, app, or video you’re already in.

When does that actually help?

Whenever language is the only thing between you and finishing the task: a clause in a foreign contract, a localized settings screen, on-screen text in a video, a message in a thread you don’t want to leave.

Can I use it with work or private screens?

Recognition stays on your Mac. The words you choose to translate are sent to a third-party translation service. LangLens does not own or operate that service, does not keep a history, and does not require an account.

Why a menu-bar app?

So translation is always one step away without becoming another destination. You call it when you need it, read the meaning, and get back to the same screen.

Is it free?

Yes. Download it and use it. No account, no sign-in, no paywall to start.

On your Mac.
Then a third party.

Text is recognized on your Mac with Apple’s Vision engine. The words you select are sent to a third-party translation service to be translated. LangLens does not own or operate that service, and does not keep a history. Read the Privacy Policy for the full detail.