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To summarize selected text on a Mac without AI, enable macOS’s built-in Summarize service, select text in a compatible app, and run the service from the app’s Services menu. It condenses the source by retaining portions of its wording; it is not the same as Apple Intelligence’s generative summaries. The exact workflow below is reported for macOS Tahoe, but Apple does not currently document this legacy service in its user-facing Mac help pages, so availability can vary by macOS release and app.
Turn on the Summarize service
- Open System Settings and choose Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
- Select Services in the sidebar, then expand Text.
- Turn on Summarize.
This path is reported in a 2026 guide for macOS Tahoe, rather than guaranteed by a current Apple end-user help page. Labels may differ between macOS releases.
Summarize selected text
- In the app containing your text, select the passage you want to condense. To summarize a whole document, select all text if the app supports it.
- Open the app’s Services menu and choose Summarize. Alternatively, Control-click or right-click the selection and look for Services > Summarize.
- In the summary window, adjust the size slider and choose Sentences or Paragraphs, if those controls are available.
- Compare the result with the original before quoting it or relying on it. Because the service selects parts of the source, removing surrounding text can leave an incomplete or abrupt passage.
Use it with PDFs, web pages, and scans
Text documents and notes
Select the text and run Summarize from the Services menu or contextual menu if the app exposes the selection to macOS Services.
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In Preview, you can copy selected PDF text with Command-C. Apple documents that copying action, but does not promise that Summarize is available directly in Preview. If it is missing, copy selectable text into a text editor and try the service there.
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Web articles
Select the passage you need and look for Services > Summarize. Safari Reader can simplify supported articles, but Safari’s documented webpage summarization uses Apple Intelligence and is a separate, AI-based feature.
Scanned pages and images
The available documentation does not establish that the legacy service performs OCR. It needs selectable text, so first use an appropriate OCR process to obtain text from a scan or image.
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Why Summarize might be missing
- Check System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services > Text and make sure Summarize is enabled.
- Confirm that you selected text, not an image or a non-text area.
- Try a normal text-editing app. A service can be absent when an app does not provide its selected text to macOS Services.
- Check the app’s menus for available commands. Apple does not document one universal keyboard shortcut for Summarize.
Apple’s documentation for Mac services explains that services can receive content from other apps, but it does not establish that a custom Shortcuts workflow provides equivalent non-AI summarization.
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The legacy Summarize service condenses text by retaining portions of the original wording. Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools > Summary or Key Points, and Safari’s AI summary, generate summaries using Apple Intelligence. They are distinct features and do not meet a requirement to avoid AI tools. The older service’s output may preserve source phrasing, but it can omit context; check it against the original.
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