How to Use the macOS Summarize Service to Quickly Condense Long Articles

Reading long research papers or lengthy news articles can consume a significant amount of your time. While many third-party AI tools exist to summarize text, macOS actually includes a powerful, built-in feature called the Summarize Service. This tool has been embedded in the operating system for years, allowing you to instantly condense any highlighted text into a manageable paragraph without needing an internet connection or expensive software subscriptions.

Why Use the Built-In Summarize Service?

Because the Summarize feature is baked directly into macOS, it works across almost all native applications, including Safari, Mail, Pages, and TextEdit. It processes the text locally on your machine, ensuring your data remains completely private. You also have manual control over the length of the summary, allowing you to choose between a high-level overview or a slightly more detailed abstract.

Step 1: Enable the Summarize Service

The Summarize feature is usually turned off by default on new Macs, so you must enable it in your System Settings first.

1. Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Select System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
3. Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Keyboard.
4. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts… button on the right.
5. In the left pane of the pop-up window, select Services.
6. In the right pane, expand the Text section.
7. Scroll down until you find Summarize and check the box next to it to enable it.
8. Click Done and close System Settings.

Step 2: Summarize Selected Text

Now that the service is active, you can use it in any compatible application.

1. Open a long article in Safari or a document in Pages.
2. Highlight the text you want to condense. You can highlight several paragraphs or press Command + A to select the entire document.
3. Right-click (or Control-click) on the highlighted text.
4. Hover your mouse over Services in the context menu.
5. Click on Summarize.

Step 3: Adjust the Summary Length

A new floating window will appear containing your condensed text.

1. At the bottom of the Summarize window, you will see a slider labeled Summary Size.
2. Drag the slider to the left to make the summary shorter (extracting only the most critical sentences).
3. Drag the slider to the right to include more detail.
4. You can choose to summarize by Sentences or Paragraphs using the toggle buttons next to the slider.
5. Once you are satisfied, you can copy the summarized text or simply close the window after reading it.

By enabling the macOS Summarize service, you can dramatically speed up your research process and extract the core message from long documents in seconds.