How to change text in a screenshot on a Mac

What macOS does on its own

Apple's Preview guide describes marks you add on top of an image: shapes, text, highlights and more. It does not describe changing the words that are already in the picture, so you hide them and write over them.

1. Open the screenshot in Preview.
2. Click the Show Markup Toolbar button, if the Markup toolbar isn't showing.
3. Click Shapes, choose a shape, and drag it over the words you want to change. Resize it with the blue handles.
4. With the shape selected, use Fill Color and Border Color to give it the color of the background behind the words.
5. Click Text, type the new words, then drag the text box into place. Text Style changes the font, style and color.

Preview leaves matching the colors and the font to you. Apple also notes that if you annotate an image file, you can't edit, move or delete the annotations after you save it. To keep them editable, convert the image to a PDF first and annotate the PDF.

Change text in Shotbolt

Edit Text Pro (Shotbolt Pro) reads the words in the screenshot, so you click the line itself instead of drawing over it. Every download from this site starts with 7 days of Pro.

1. Right-click the screenshot's Quick Access card or its row in History and choose Edit Text in Screenshot Pro (Shotbolt Pro). In the editor, click Edit Text in the toolbar or press I. For a picture you did not take with Shotbolt, choose Tools → Annotate Image File… from the Shotbolt icon in the menu bar first.
2. Click the line you want to change. To change one word, Option-click it.
3. Type the new words. Press Return to finish, or Esc to cancel.
4. To remove words without a replacement, delete all the text: the patch alone covers the original.
5. Copy or save the screenshot as usual.

The original words are covered by a patch of the background they sat on, and the new ones are drawn in the original's size, color and weight. If you changed the editor's keys, Settings → Shortcuts → Annotate Tools lists yours. Help and Features have more.

Fine-tune the result

• Long text. With Fit to box on, longer words shrink or wrap to stay inside the box. Turn it off for one line at the chosen size.
• Font and color. Select the edited text and use the ordinary text controls in the inspector: font, size, color and weight.
• Position. Drag the text to move it; the patch stays on the original. Rotation turns it, and Back in Place puts it back over the original.
• Edges. If the old lettering peeks out, grow the patch a pixel at a time with the plus button next to Patch, or Option-drag a handle to move one edge.
• Compare. Hold Show Original, or the backslash key, to see the words as they were.

Limits

• Backgrounds. The patch is one color, or a blend across each row for a gradient. Over a photo or a pattern it can show, so check the edges with Show Original.
• Type. The new words are set in the system font, at the original's size, color and weight. If the original uses another typeface, pick a matching font in the inspector.
• Reading. Edit Text works on the lines it can read. If it finds none, the panel says No text found in this image.

Questions

Can I change it again later?

Yes. Each changed line is its own Edited Text layer, kept with the capture, so it is still there when you open the screenshot from History again. In Edit Text, click it to retype it, or delete the layer to bring the original words back.

Is the text sent anywhere?

No. Shotbolt reads the words on your Mac and keeps what it read in memory only. The words you type are saved with the capture's layers.

More guides

• How to hide sensitive text in a Mac screenshot
• How to translate text in a screenshot on a Mac
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