How to Use Visual Intelligence on Mac to Ask About What's On Your Screen

Point your Mac at something on screen and ask what it is: that is the promise of Visual Intelligence on Mac, Apple's on-screen question tool powered by Apple Intelligence. Instead of manually copying text into a search bar or guessing what a product or plant is, you frame it in a screenshot and let your Mac identify it, translate it, or hand you the next useful action. Here is how to set it up and use it well.

Quick Answer

Visual Intelligence lives inside the screenshot flow on Apple silicon Macs running a recent macOS with Apple Intelligence enabled. Capture a region of the screen, then choose to ask about it: the Mac identifies objects, reads text, summarises, translates, or searches the web for what you highlighted. It works entirely from on-screen content, so no camera is needed.

What You Need First

Visual Intelligence requires a Mac with Apple silicon, an M-series chip rather than an older Intel model, because Apple Intelligence runs its models on the Neural Engine. You also need a macOS version that ships Apple Intelligence and the feature switched on in System Settings under Apple Intelligence & Siri. If the option is missing, check that your region and Siri language are supported and that you have downloaded the Apple Intelligence models. Once enabled, the tools appear automatically in the screenshot interface. If you are still on an Intel machine, our MacBook range covers the Apple silicon models that support these features.

How to Trigger It

Apple added two dedicated shortcuts for Visual Intelligence on Mac. The quickest is Shift-Command-6, which opens Visual Intelligence directly and lets you drag a selection box around anything on screen. Alternatively, press Shift-Command-5 to open the full screenshot toolbar -- Visual Intelligence now sits alongside the standard screenshot and screen recording options so you can choose it from there instead.

Step by Step: Asking About Your Screen

Start by capturing the area you want to query. Press the screenshot shortcut and drag a box around the object, paragraph or image of interest. In the screenshot preview that appears, look for the Visual Intelligence actions. From there you can do several things:

Identify objects and scenes

Frame a plant, a landmark, a gadget or a dish, and the Mac surfaces what it recognises along with relevant information or a web search to dig deeper.

Pull out and act on text

Highlight a block of text on screen and you can copy it, summarise it, or translate it into another language without retyping a single word.

Search what you see

When you want more context, send the captured region straight to a web search or to a connected assistant for a fuller answer, all from the same preview.

Ask Siri directly

One of the action buttons in the Visual Intelligence overlay is Ask Siri. Tap it, type your question about what is captured, and Siri returns an answer inside its usual dialogue without you leaving the current window.

Getting Cleaner Results

Frame tightly around the single thing you care about: a screenshot crammed with three apps gives the model too much to weigh up. For text, make sure it is legible at the size you captured, since blurry or tiny print lowers recognition accuracy. If a result is off, recapture with a closer crop.

Visual Intelligence is most reliable on clear, well-lit content. A product shot with a plain background, a readable paragraph, or a distinct landmark will return sharper identifications than a crowded scene or a low-contrast graphic. The feature shines on a sharp, high-resolution display, which is one reason the Liquid Retina panels across the current MacBook lineup pair so well with it.

Privacy: What Leaves Your Mac

Apple Intelligence handles lighter Visual Intelligence queries on-device. Heavier requests, such as sending a region off for a web search, naturally pass through a search provider. For the on-device identification and text extraction steps, the captured region is processed locally, so the content of your screen does not travel to a server. For Private Cloud Compute steps, Apple's no-logging server architecture applies. If you are capturing sensitive information, select the smallest useful region rather than the full screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Visual Intelligence on Mac use the camera?

On Mac it works from what is already on your screen rather than a live camera feed, capturing the region you select in a screenshot. This is different from the iPhone version, which can also point the rear camera at the world. The Mac flow is built around the screenshot interface.

Which Macs support Visual Intelligence?

It needs an Apple silicon Mac, meaning an M-series chip, running a macOS version that includes Apple Intelligence. Older Intel Macs cannot run the on-device models that power it. Check System Settings to confirm Apple Intelligence is available and enabled.

Why don't I see the Visual Intelligence options?

The most common reasons are an unsupported macOS version, Apple Intelligence not yet enabled, or your Siri language and region not being supported. Update macOS, turn on Apple Intelligence in System Settings, and confirm the models have finished downloading. The actions then appear in the screenshot preview.

Is my screen content sent to Apple's servers?

Apple Intelligence handles many requests on-device and uses Private Cloud Compute for heavier ones, with privacy protections in place. Web searches you trigger naturally reach the search provider. For sensitive material, capture only the specific region you need rather than the whole screen.