Installation & Updates

Screen Recording stopped working after I updated Leafy

This can happen the first time you open Leafy after a recent update. It's a one-time hiccup, not a bug: just say "yes" to the permission one more time and it's fixed for good.

Why this happens

Some updates change Leafy enough that macOS treats it like a new app and forgets you'd already granted Screen Recording.

Leafy may still show as "on" in System Settings, but scanning will fail or show a black screen. The permission is just stale, not actually broken.

How to fix it

  1. Quit Leafy completely: click the Leafy icon in your menu bar (top-right of your screen), then choose Quit Leafy. Just closing the window isn't enough. The Leafy menu bar dropdown with "Quit Leafy" highlighted at the bottom
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording. macOS System Settings open to Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording
  3. If Leafy is listed there, remove it from the list: select Leafy and click the − (minus) button below the list. Turning the switch off isn't enough. The stale entry has to be removed so macOS asks fresh. The Screen Recording settings list showing Leafy with its switch on, next to the remove button
  4. Open Leafy again, then press ⌥A (the scan shortcut). With the old entry removed, macOS asks for permission again, and Leafy will show you a window like this. Leafy's "Enable two permissions" window, with Grant buttons for Screen Recording and Accessibility
  5. Go back to Screen Recording settings and turn the switch on for Leafy, or drag Leafy straight from that window into the System Settings list.
  6. macOS will ask to quit and reopen Leafy: click Quit & Reopen. The permission won't take effect until Leafy restarts. macOS system prompt reading "Leafy may not be able to record the contents of your screen until it is quit" with a Quit & Reopen button

This is a one-time thing

Future updates won't ask you to do this again.

Still stuck? Email us at binjto@gmail.com and we'll help you sort it out, or chat with us on Discord.

Scanning

Scanning says “No text found”

Most of the time this isn't about blur — it's about language. Your Mac reads text best in the language you're learning, so if the words on screen are in a different language, switch your learning language in the menu bar and scan again.

Leafy's "No text found — try selecting a clearer area" message, with a hint reading "Not English? Change your learning language in the menu bar → Learning Language."

Why this happens

Leafy uses your Mac's built-in text reader to pull words off the screen. That reader gives priority to the language you've set as your learning language.

So if you're set to learn, say, English but scan a line of Thai or Greek, the reader may come back empty — even when the text looks perfectly clear to you. It isn't broken; it just wasn't looking for that language.

How to fix it

  1. Click the Leafy leaf icon in your menu bar (top-right of your screen).
  2. Open Learning Language and choose the language you're actually scanning.
  3. Scan again with ⌥A (or Box Select Scan). The words are picked up now.

Still nothing after switching?

Then it may genuinely be too small or too fuzzy to read. Zoom the page in a little, or draw a tighter box around just the word or line you want, and try once more.

Still getting “No text found”? Email us at binjto@gmail.com and we'll help you sort it out, or chat with us on Discord.

Your Library

Import your own word list

Already keep vocabulary in a spreadsheet or another app? Grab a template below, fill it in, and import the file into Leafy.

Excel template .xlsx CSV template .csv

Filling in the template

Delete the example rows, add your own: one word per row. Only Word is required, everything else is optional:

  • Word: the only required column.
  • Definition, Translation, Part of Speech, Phonetic: leave blank and Leafy looks them up for you.
  • Gender, Base Form: for languages that use them (e.g. "die", "f").
  • Context, Notes, Date Added: optional extras, kept exactly as entered.
  • Language, Folder: which language the word is in, and which folder to file it under.

Importing the file into Leafy

  1. Click the Leafy icon in your menu bar and open Settings.
  2. Find Vocabulary backup and click Import.
  3. Choose your file. Leafy shows a preview of every word it found. Untick anything you don't want, then confirm.

Coming from another app? You usually don't need the template at all. Leafy reads CSV, TSV, Excel (.xlsx), JSON, plain text, and Anki (.apkg) exports directly: just export from your old app and import that file as-is.

File won't import? Email it to us at binjto@gmail.com and we'll take a look, or drop it in our Discord and chat with us.

Integrations

Look up any selected text with PopClip

PopClip pops up a small toolbar whenever you select text anywhere on your Mac. Leafy's free extension adds three actions to it: Define, Translate, and Save, no switching to Leafy first.

PopClip itself is paid: a one-time purchase with a free trial, sold separately by its own developer at the PopClip website or the Mac App Store. Leafy's extension is free but needs PopClip running to work.

Installing PopClip

  1. Download PopClip from its website or the Mac App Store, drag it into Applications, and launch it.
  2. Approve Accessibility permission when macOS asks (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility). PopClip needs it to detect text selections.
  3. PopClip runs on a free trial until you buy it from within the app.

Installing the Leafy extension

  1. Download it below and unzip if your browser doesn't do it automatically.
    Leafy PopClip extension .popclipext
  2. Double-click Leafy.popclipext and click Install when PopClip asks.
  3. Make sure Leafy itself is installed on the same Mac. The extension sends words to it.

Using it

Select any text, then tap the Leafy icon in the PopClip toolbar to define, translate, or save it.

Extension not showing up in PopClip? Email us at binjto@gmail.com or chat with us on Discord.

Leafy only ever reaches out from binjto@gmail.com, Discord as jtobin0935, or u/Thin-Lawfulness-7861 on Reddit, and nowhere else.