Find Mode

Use it when the target is text rather than a button: a line in a log view, a label inside a canvas, content in a custom UI where clickable-element detection is not enough. Where Element Mode needs an element, Find Mode only needs pixels.

How it works#

Find Mode captures the window, recognizes visible text, and overlays hints on matches.

1. Trigger a Find Mode command.
2. Type the text you want.
3. Hold Shift and type the displayed hint to choose a match.

Each match can expose several target points, so you can land near the center or an edge of the matched text depending on what you plan to do next.

Find Mode only reads the active window. If the content changes, press Command + R to reload the recognized text.

Select non-editable text#

Find Mode also makes text selectable in places that do not support editing:

1. Use Find Mode to move the cursor to where the selection starts.
2. Trigger command.toggleDrag to hold the mouse button down.
3. Use Find Mode again, Grid Mode, or Mouse Control Mode to move to the end of the selection.
4. Trigger command.toggleDrag again to release.

This works in viewers, custom UI surfaces, and anywhere the usual text-editing shortcuts are unavailable. Walked through step by step in Select Text by Simulating a Drag.

Permissions#

Find Mode needs Screen Recording permission, because OCR runs on a captured image of the window.

If macOS blocks capture, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, allow Cursor Crane, and restart the app if needed. See Permissions.

Settings#

In Settings → Find Mode you can configure:

• OCR speed, trading faster recognition against more accurate recognition.
• Screenshot scale, 1x or 2x.
• Command sequences and shortcuts for Find Mode actions.

On a dense screen, 2x plus accurate recognition finds small text that the faster setting misses.

Find Mode is an Unlocked feature. See Plans and Licensing.

Related commands#

Next#

• Select Text with Element Burst Mode, the other approach
• Modes overview