AI Screen Search — Find Anything You've Seen on Your Computer

Screenpipe captures screen text through accessibility APIs with OCR fallback, transcribes audio, and indexes the history locally. Search by keyword, app, time range, or an AI question. It works across platforms and includes a developer API and public source code.

What Is Screens AI?

Screen AI tools capture and index content displayed on a computer. They add text search and natural-language queries to screen recordings across apps and windows.

You saw something on your screen. A URL. A code snippet. A number from a spreadsheet someone shared. A message in a channel you can't find anymore. You know you saw it, but you can't find it.

Browser history only covers web pages. Slack search only covers Slack. Email search only covers email. File search only covers files you saved. There's no "search everything I saw today" button.

AI screen search captures screen activity and extracts text across apps through accessibility APIs, with OCR as a fallback. You can search that history together.

How AI Screen Search Works

The technology is simpler than you'd think:

1. Continuous Screen Capture

The app takes screenshots at regular intervals (typically every 1-2 seconds). This happens in the background with minimal CPU impact — modern operating systems have efficient screen capture APIs.

2. Text Extraction (Accessibility + OCR)

Accessibility APIs read text directly from applications, using the same interfaces as assistive technologies. OCR handles content those APIs cannot reach, such as images, video, and GPU-rendered apps. Together, they make text from PDFs, editors, chat, and shared screens searchable.

3. Audio Transcription

In parallel, system audio and microphone input get transcribed. What people say in meetings, what you hear in YouTube videos, podcast audio — all converted to searchable text.

4. Indexed Local Database

The extracted text is stored in a local database with timestamps and app context (which app, which window). This creates a timeline of everything you've seen and heard, searchable by keyword, time range, or application.

5. AI Query Layer

On top of the search index sits an AI that can answer natural language questions. Instead of exact keyword matches, you can ask: "What was the API endpoint the backend team mentioned in standup?" and the AI finds the relevant moment.

What You Can Actually Search

Here are real examples of what AI screen search finds that other tools miss:

Cross-app search:

• "What was the Figma link someone posted in Discord?" — searches screen content across both apps
• "Show me the error message from my terminal this morning" — finds extracted text from terminal window

Meeting content:

• "What numbers were on that spreadsheet during the finance review?" — finds screen content from the shared screen
• "Who mentioned the deadline change?" — searches audio transcript

Lost context:

• "What was I working on last Tuesday afternoon?" — shows a timeline of apps and content
• "Find that Stack Overflow answer about React hooks" — even if you closed the tab

Code and development:

• "What was the function signature I saw in the PR review?" — extracted text from code review tool
• "Show me the database schema from the architecture discussion" — finds shared screen content

Screenpipe: The Leading AI Screen Search Tool

Screenpipe combines screen search with the following features:

Complete capture:

• Screen text extraction on all monitors simultaneously (accessibility-first, OCR fallback)
• System audio capture (what you hear through speakers/headphones)
• Microphone capture (what you say)
• Keyboard and clipboard tracking (optional)

Instant search:

• Text search with filters: app name, time range, content type
• AI-powered natural language queries
• Timeline view to browse your screen history visually

Privacy-first:

• All data stays on your device — no cloud processing
• Open source — verify the code yourself
• Works completely offline
• Choose your AI: local models (Ollama) or cloud (Claude, GPT)

Developer-friendly:

• Full REST API for custom integrations
• Build Obsidian plugins, AI agents, or custom search UIs
• Pipe data into any workflow

For more on the recording capabilities, see the AI screen recording use case.

AI Screen Search vs. Alternatives

	Screenpipe	Microsoft Recall	macOS Spotlight	Browser History
Searches screen content	✅ All apps	✅ Windows only	⚠️ Files only	❌ URLs only
Searches audio	✅	❌	❌	❌
AI queries	✅	✅	❌	❌
Cross-platform	Mac, Win, Linux	Windows only	Mac only	Per browser
Open source	✅	❌	❌	N/A
Local processing	✅	✅	✅	✅
API access	✅	❌	⚠️ Limited	❌

Common Questions

Does it slow down my computer?

Screenpipe uses about 1-3% CPU on modern hardware. Screen capture uses accessibility APIs by default (which are extremely lightweight) with OCR as a fallback, optimized to run efficiently in the background. Most users don't notice it's running.

How much storage does it use?

Roughly 1-2 GB per day of continuous use. The data is compressed extracted text and audio transcription, not video files. A 1TB drive holds months of screen history.

Can I exclude sensitive apps?

Yes. You can configure Screenpipe to skip specific applications or windows. Banking apps, password managers, or anything else you want excluded.

Does it work with multiple monitors?

Yes. Screenpipe captures all connected monitors simultaneously. Each frame is processed independently.

Getting Started

1. Download Screenpipe for your platform
2. Grant screen recording and microphone permissions
3. Use your computer normally — Screenpipe captures in the background
4. Search anytime: type a keyword or ask the AI a question

Why Screen AI is Essential for Modern Knowledge Work

Screen AI lets you search across applications for a Figma reference, code from a PR review, or a number from a shared spreadsheet. You can retrieve the captured content without remembering which app it appeared in.

Related reads:

• How to check clipboard history on Mac, Windows & Linux
• AI screen search: How it works
• Why the screenpipe license changed

Try Screenpipe