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Updated

How to Scan a QR Code on Mac

With Text Lens

  1. Show the QR code on your screen, like in an image, a PDF, a website, or a video call.
  2. Click the Text Lens icon in the menu bar, and choose “Capture”.
  3. Drag over the code.
  4. The content of the code is copied. Paste it with CommandV, like in the address bar of your browser.

Text Lens also reads barcodes, and the text around the code in the same capture. To scan an image file, drop it on the menu bar icon. You can set a keyboard shortcut for “Capture” in the settings. The scan runs on your Mac, so it also works offline.

Supercharge can scan QR codes and barcodes too, from an area of the screen or from an image on the clipboard, and it reads several codes at once. Its menu has many other tools, so get it if you want those too.

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Copy unselectable text on screen

Download on the App Store

$6, one-time purchase

Platform
macOS
Requires
macOS 26 or later
Category
Productivity
Released
March 2025
Privacy
No data collected
Developer
Sindre Sorhus

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Without an app

A Mac has no camera app that scans QR codes, like the Camera app on your iPhone. To open a QR code that is on your Mac screen, scan it with your iPhone:

  1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone.
  2. In Photo mode, point the iPhone at the code on the screen.
  3. Tap the link that shows at the bottom of the screen.

You can also use the Scan Code control in Control Center. Apple’s instructions. This opens the link on your iPhone, not on your Mac. To use it on the Mac, send it with Hyperduck or AirDrop.