Games and subtitles

Look up game text without leaving the game

Dialogue boxes, item descriptions and subtitles can't be selected or copied. Point at the word, tap or press your shortcut, and AALookup reads it from the screen and explains it where it is.

No account needed. Your dictionaries stay on your computer.

Disco ElysiumReal screenshot
Disco Elysium dialogue, explained where it appears.
on account ofDisco Elysium dialogue, explained where it appears.

What you can do

Text you can't select

AALookup doesn't need selectable text. It recognises what's on the screen, in games, video players and screenshots.

Stays out of your way

The panel appears next to the word and goes away when you get back to playing. Nothing stays on top of the game.

Every word joins your list

Words you look up while playing are saved with the sentence they came from, and come back for review later.

Free, no sign-up

How to start

  1. Download and open AALookup

    macOS or Windows, under 20 MB, no account needed.

  2. Let it see your screen

    On a Mac, allow Accessibility so it can read the word under your pointer, and Screen Recording for text in games and images. Windows asks for nothing.

  3. Point at a word

    Three-finger tap on a Mac, or press your shortcut on Windows. The meaning appears next to the word.

What users say

I'm a Mac user, and the trackpad gesture alone made me download it. Lookups are fast, and it combines the strengths of dictionaries and AI. The built-in three-finger Look Up often gets the range of a Chinese word wrong; AALookup is spot-on in English and nearly always right in Chinese. Genuinely smooth.

@w***0FreeMdict forum2026-08

It's not just fast, it's that you can look things up anywhere. And the interface is modern; it feels like my dictionary app jumped from an antique straight into the present.

@w***tFreeMdict forum2026-08

Common questions

Does it work with fullscreen games?

Borderless and windowed modes work. A game in exclusive fullscreen may need to be switched to borderless.

Does it slow the game down?

No. AALookup reads the screen only when you ask for a word. Nothing runs while you play.

Which languages?

Any language your dictionaries cover. You can pick the recognition language in Settings.

Get AALookup

Free download

Local dictionaries work offline and without limits. AI explanations come with a free trial.

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