How do you configure Find / Search Text on Screen?

Configuration Help & General Discussion
1

Using the settings in the attached screenshot, the action [ Find / Search Text on Screen and Move Mouse ] works correctly only when the text string is inside the BTT Configuration window. However, it does not work for text strings in any other application's window or any text string on Finder.

Could someone tell me what I am doing wrong? (I cannot find relevant info in Help doc or in other community topics.)

Environment: BTT v. 4.9997, MacBook Pro, Mac OS 15.2, multiple desktops.

Configuration_FindText_BTT
Configuration_FindText_BTT2170×1432 276 KB

2

This question has been open for a while without a reply. Because of this, I conclude that this is a bug, not a user error.

The bug is that the action [ Find / Search Text on Screen and Move Mouse ] does not function as expected as a TouchBar trigger. It works only when the target text string is inside the BTT Configuration window. It does not work in any other application's window or in Finder. (I tested this on the BTT v. 5.070, and the bug still occurs.)

To reproduce as a TouchBar trigger (I have not tested it as other types of triggers):

  1. Configure [ Find / Search Text on Screen and Move Mouse ] according to the screenshot. This trigger is "For All Apps."
  2. With the BTT Configuration window as the active window, click on TEST. The cursor correctly moves to the target text.
  3. Change the target text to something that appears in a different app (ex: Numbers).
  4. Make the new app the active window and click on TEST. The cursor fails to move to the target text.
  5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 with a Finder window. Same result. Exception: If the target text is among the menu headers in Finder (File, Edit, View, etc.), then the cursor will move there.
3

I checked but it is working ok here. However it is using the system OCR which can be problematic if the whole screen is scanned.

Best set it to "focused window" if you want to search only in the focused window:

image
image2236×1378 328 KB

To check what it "sees" while another app is active, you can make that app active, then hold the cmd key and click the "Perform Test Search" button while BTT is not focused. When pressing cmd, the BTT window will not activate.

Also note that you have set it to only search in the upper half in your example.

4

Thank you for replying. Unfortunately, it still fails for me, even after changing my settings as you suggested. (Search image on: Focused Window & Limit Search Region: Search Everywhere...)

Attached is a screenshot of the Perform Test Search with Numbers. The result is: No Matches Recognized. I tested this with a Finder window in focus (target text: AirDrop) and got the same result. Perform Test Search works when BTT Config is the active window.

FindText_TestWithNumbers
FindText_TestWithNumbers1824×1466 315 KB

5

does your BTT have screen recording permissions in System Settings?

6

Ah ha! That was my problem. BTT did not have screen recording permission turned on. After I enabled that permission, [ Find / Search Text on Screen and Move Mouse ] works as expected in other apps and in Finder.

Thanks a lot for help!

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