ScreenLens for macOS
Last updated: 20 September 2026
ScreenLens does not collect your data. Not in a limited way, not with an opt-out — the app has no network access at all, so there is no mechanism by which it could.
This page says what that means precisely, because a privacy policy that only reassures is not much use.
| Data collected | None |
|---|---|
| Data shared with anyone | None |
| Analytics or telemetry | None |
| Advertising or tracking | None |
| Account required | No |
| Network access | None — the app ships without a network entitlement |
A screenshot of the rectangle you select, taken only when you ask for it — by pressing the shortcut or choosing Capture Area from the menu bar.
There is no background capture, no timer, no monitoring of your screen while the app is idle, and no recording of anything you did not select.
The mouse cursor is not included unless you switch that on.
On your Mac, entirely.
Text recognition, language identification, table and document structure, QR and barcode decoding, entity detection, translation, and the optional Apple Intelligence actions all run on device using frameworks that ship with macOS.
No part of a capture is uploaded, and nothing is sent anywhere for processing.
ScreenLens is distributed through the Mac App Store and runs in Apple's App Sandbox. It requests exactly two capabilities:
It does not request the outgoing-network entitlement. Inside the sandbox, an app without that entitlement cannot open a network connection. This is enforced by macOS, not promised by us.
If capture history is enabled — it is on by default, and you can switch it off:
All of it is stored inside the app's own sandbox container on your Mac. It is never transmitted, never synchronised, and never backed up to us, because there is no "us" for it to reach.
History is deleted automatically after the retention period you choose — 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, or forever, with 7 days as the default. You can pause history, clear it entirely from Settings › Privacy, or turn it off.
Clearing history deletes both the entries and any saved preview files.
ScreenLens writes to the macOS system log. Those entries contain only metadata — how long recognition took, how many pixels were captured, what content type was detected, how confident the recognizer was.
They never contain the captured image, the recognized text, a URL, an e-mail address, a phone number, a barcode payload, a table's contents, a translation, or the path of a file you saved.
Turning on Diagnostic logging in Settings › Advanced adds more of the same kind of metadata. It cannot cause your content to be logged.
These logs stay on your Mac and are never sent anywhere.
ScreenLens asks for Screen Recording, and nothing else.
It is requested in context — when you take your first capture, or from the first-run window — never silently at launch. Without it the app cannot capture the area you select; that is the only thing it is used for.
ScreenLens does not request Accessibility, Contacts, Camera, Microphone, Full Disk Access, Photos, or Location.
ScreenLens is free to evaluate for a limited number of captures, after which it requires a one-time purchase. There is no subscription.
The purchase is handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. ScreenLens never sees your payment details, your Apple Account, or your name. We receive no personal information from Apple about who bought the app.
Your evaluation count is a number stored in the app's own preferences on your Mac. It is not tied to an identity, and it is not transmitted.
ScreenLens has no sign-in, no registration, no e-mail address field, and no cloud profile. Every feature works without one.
ScreenLens is a utility with no user accounts, no user-generated content shared with anyone, and no data collection. It is rated 4+ and is safe for use at any age, but it is not directed at children specifically.
Some actions deliberately pass data out of ScreenLens, and each one requires an explicit click by you:
These are normal macOS hand-offs to software you chose. What happens next is governed by that software's privacy policy, not this one.
There is none. ScreenLens uses only frameworks that ship with macOS. It embeds no analytics SDK, no advertising SDK, and no third-party crash reporter.
If a future version of ScreenLens ever changes what it does with your data, this policy will be updated before that version ships, and the change will be stated plainly rather than buried. Any feature that would send content off your Mac would be opt-in, clearly labelled, and off by default.
Questions about this policy, or about how ScreenLens handles your data: