Keyboard shortcuts
A global shortcut is a key combination that works anywhere on your Mac, no matter which app is in front, so you can translate without first switching to TransOne.
New to these symbols? ⌥ is the Option key (also labeled Alt), ⇧ is Shift, ⌘ is Command, and ⌃ is Control. So ⇧⌥D means hold Shift and Option together, then press D.
Every action and its shortcut
TransOne has twelve actions. Eight come with a shortcut out of the box. The other four ship with no shortcut, so you must record one before the keyboard can trigger them. They are still there in the menu bar menu and you can click them anytime.
The table follows the order of the Settings ▸ Shortcuts page, which is also the order of the menu bar menu.
| Action | Default | What it does | Permission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input Translation | ⌥A | Opens an empty translation window to type or paste into. | none |
| Selection Translation | ⌥D | Translates the text you selected in another app. | Accessibility |
| Selection Actions | ⌥W | Shows a small bar beside your selection to translate, polish, summarize, speak or copy it. | Accessibility |
| Silent Selection Translation | ⇧⌥D | Replaces the selected text in place with its translation. | Accessibility |
| Clipboard Translation | ⌥C | Translates the text you last copied. | none |
| Screenshot Translation | ⌥S | Draw a box on screen, read the text, translate it. | Screen Recording |
| Screenshot OCR | ⇧⌥S | Draw a box, read the text into the input box, no translation. | Screen Recording |
| Image Translation | ⌥T | Draw a box, draw the translation over the original. | Screen Recording |
| Speak Selection | none | Reads the selected text aloud. | Accessibility |
| Speak Clipboard | none | Reads the copied text aloud. | none |
| Polish Selection | none | Rewrites the selected text in the same language. | Accessibility |
| Summarize Selection | none | Summarizes the selected text in the translation window. | Accessibility |
The last four have no shortcut
Speak Selection, Speak Clipboard, Polish Selection and Summarize Selection ship without a shortcut on purpose. You can still reach three of them from the keyboard without recording anything: select text, press ⌥W for Selection Actions, then pick Polish, Summarize or Speak. To give any of the four a shortcut of its own, record one in Settings ▸ Shortcuts as described below.
Change a shortcut
- Click the menu bar icon and choose Preferences… (or press ⌘,).
- Go to Settings ▸ Shortcuts.
- Find the action's row. Each row has an icon, the action's name, a short description, a recorder, and a clear button.
- Click the recorder, then press the key combination you want. It is saved as you press it. A combination needs at least one modifier key (⌘, ⌥, ⌃ or ⇧), and the recorder refuses one that another TransOne action already uses, naming that action.
- To remove a shortcut, click the clear button on its row. The action stays in the menu, it just has no key combination.
Use Defaults and Clear All
Two buttons below the shortcut rows reset everything at once:
- Use Defaults restores the eight factory shortcuts (⌥A, ⌥D, ⌥W, ⇧⌥D, ⌥C, ⌥S, ⇧⌥S, ⌥T) and clears the four that ship without one (Speak Selection, Speak Clipboard, Polish Selection, Summarize Selection). A line on the page reads "Suggested: ⌥A, ⌥D, ⌥W, ⇧⌥D, ⌥C, ⌥S, ⇧⌥S, ⌥T".
- Clear All removes every shortcut, including the eight defaults. Every action is then click-only from the menu until you record shortcuts again.
Both ask you to confirm before they change anything.
Quick Actions
Below the twelve actions, the Quick Actions section holds three extra ways to translate that are not tied to a single key combination:
- Translate on double copy: press ⌘C twice quickly to translate the copied text. Off by default, needs no permission, and works in every app. See Translate on double copy for how it behaves.
- Translate from PopClip: adds a TransOne button to PopClip, the small bar that appears when you select text. Its Install in PopClip button sets this up in one click. See PopClip.
- Translate from Raycast: adds a Raycast Quicklink that sends your selection to TransOne. Its Add to Raycast button hands the ready-made link to Raycast in one click. See Raycast.
When a shortcut does nothing
If pressing a shortcut has no effect, the usual cause is that another app already owns that combination. TransOne stops you from giving two of its own actions the same keys, but it cannot see shortcuts that belong to other apps, so it will let you record a combination another app is using. The fix is to record a different one in Settings ▸ Shortcuts.
A second cause: the selection-based actions (⌥D, ⌥W, ⇧⌥D, Speak Selection, Polish Selection, Summarize Selection) need the Accessibility permission. Until you grant it, each of them opens the Accessibility page of System Settings with the guide card instead of running. Grant Accessibility, or use a zero-permission entry point like Clipboard Translation ⌥C.
For more, see Troubleshooting.
Next
- Ways to translate, what each shortcut actually opens.
- Permissions, why some actions need Accessibility or Screen Recording.