How to copy a table from an image on a Mac
Live Text copies the words in an image in Preview and Photos, and Apple's guides for it describe copying text, not a table's rows and columns. To paste a table into a spreadsheet as cells, use Extract Table Pro (Shotbolt Pro) in Shotbolt, which reads the table on your Mac and copies it as TSV, CSV or Markdown.
What macOS does on its own
Live Text reads the words in a photo or image.
- Open the image in Preview.
- Hold the pointer over the text and drag to select it. If you can't select text, choose Tools → Text Selection.
- Control-click the selection and choose Copy Text, then paste it into another document or app.
In Photos, Control-click the text and choose Copy Text, or press Command-C. Apple's Live Text guides for Preview and Photos describe copying text and do not mention tables. Apple also notes that Live Text isn't available in all regions or languages.
For a table on screen that is not in an image file, press Shift-Command-4 and drag over it. macOS saves the screenshot to the desktop, and you can open it in Preview and copy from there.
Copy a table in Shotbolt
Extract Table Pro (Shotbolt Pro) reads the table's rows and columns, not only its words. Every download from this site starts with 7 days of Pro.
- Click the Shotbolt icon in the menu bar and choose Capture Table Pro (Shotbolt Pro), right under Capture Text. With workflows at the top of that menu, it moves into Tools. It has no key by default; you can add one in Settings → Shortcuts → Capture.
- Drag over the table. To read a whole window, press Space and click it.
- A Table panel opens with the rows and columns it read. Click Copy TSV, then paste into a spreadsheet.
In All-In-One, select an area and click Table or press Shift-T for the same panel. And when Capture Text reads something that looks like a table, its Copied text message offers Extract Table while you have Pro or the trial. Help has more.
From a picture you already have
- Open the screenshot in the editor. For a picture you did not take with Shotbolt, choose Tools → Annotate Image File… from the menu bar icon.
- Click Intelligence and choose Extract Table… Pro (Shotbolt Pro).
Without opening the editor, right-click a Quick Access card or a row in History and choose Intelligence → Extract Table…. In the editor it reads the picture as you see it, so crop to the table first if there is more around it. See the Intelligence menu.
The formats
- Copy TSV. Tab-separated text, which pastes into cells in a spreadsheet such as Numbers.
- CSV. Comma-separated, under Copy As. A cell with a comma, a quote or a line break is quoted, so it stays one cell.
- Markdown. Also under Copy As: a table for notes and chat apps, with the first row as its header.
- Save CSV…. Saves the table as a .csv file.
Limits
- One table at a time. It reads one table per picture. When a picture holds several, capture or crop to the one you want.
- It can misread. The cells are read from pixels, so compare numbers, codes and totals with the picture before you rely on them.
- Merged cells. A cell that spans several rows or columns can come out with its text in the first one and the rest left empty.
Questions
What if it says no table was found?
The panel says No table found. Try a capture of just the table. If the picture has text but no table it can read, the panel offers Copy Text instead, which copies the words in reading order.
Is the table sent anywhere?
No. Extract Table reads the picture on your Mac and does not use Apple Intelligence, so it works with Apple Intelligence switched off. The table goes only where you copy or save it.