How to Translate Selected Text on Mac with a Shortcut

To translate selected text on Mac, highlight a passage and use the translation action in the app's context menu when available. For a keyboard workflow, configure Frset's Translate Selection shortcut, select copyable text in another app, and invoke the shortcut to open the source and translation together.

Start with the Mac translation menu

1. Select the word, sentence, or paragraph you want to translate.
2. Control-click the selection and choose Translate if the app offers it.
3. Choose the target language and review the result.
4. Use the copy action when you want to reuse the translation.

Apple describes the supported workflow in its Mac translation guide. This can be enough for an occasional passage. The available actions depend on the app and the supported languages.

Translate a selection with a Frset shortcut

Frset's Translation tools let you read a selected passage without first pasting it into a separate translator:

1. Configure a shortcut for Translate Selection in Frset's shortcut settings.
2. Grant the relevant macOS Accessibility permission when needed.
3. In your source app, select a passage that can be copied.
4. Invoke the shortcut while that app is active.
5. Choose the source language, or automatic detection, and your target language.
6. Review the source and result, then choose Copy Translation if you need the translation elsewhere.

Use a key combination that does not conflict with a shortcut in the app you read most often. Start with a short, ordinary paragraph to check the setup before relying on it for a longer passage.

The standalone panel can be resized or pinned beside your work. If the source includes an extra sentence or has been read incorrectly, edit it in the panel and press Return to translate the edited text again. Shift-Return inserts a line break.

What to check when the selected text cannot be read

Selection translation needs both permission and readable text. If nothing useful appears:

• Check that Frset has Accessibility permission in macOS settings.
• Make sure the passage is still selected in the active source app.
• Try copying it normally. If the app does not expose copyable text, a selection shortcut may not be able to read it either.
• Check whether the shortcut is being handled by the source app instead.

For words embedded in a screenshot, scanned page, or app image, use screen translation. That workflow recognizes the visible words with OCR and needs Screen Recording permission. For text you already have on the clipboard, open Frset's Translate tool and paste it as input.

Choose a translation service and review the result

Frset runs on macOS 13 or later. Apple system translation in Frset requires macOS 15 or later, supported language pairs, and the required language resources. Google, Microsoft, and configured AI providers offer other options; their language support and setup vary.

The built-in services do not require you to configure an AI API key. A configured AI provider may require credentials and separate usage charges. If a request fails, check the selected service's connection and setup, as well as the source and target languages.

Remote translation services receive the submitted text. Read the Privacy Policy before translating sensitive material. For names, technical terms, and ambiguous sentences, compare the translation with its source before using it in a message or document.

Copy Translation copies the completed result and saves a translation entry in Frset's history. You can revisit it through the Clipboard Manager. This action does not replace text inside the original document; paste the result into the location you choose.