Color Picker: How to Get a Hex Code on Mac

The simplest method: SeventyColor

Install SeventyColor, click “Pick a color” (or the eyedropper icon in the menu bar), aim at any pixel on screen with the system loupe, then click: the HEX code (or RGB, or HSL depending on your setting) lands in your clipboard right away. Your last 8 colors stay visible as swatches, one click away to copy again.

Download the free SeventyColor trial (7 days, macOS 13+).

Why not just use the eyedropper tool in your design app

• It works everywhere, not just inside a canvas: a photo, a website, a PDF, another app, a file open in a viewer. macOS's system eyedropper knows no boundary between apps.
• One central format: HEX, RGB or HSL, chosen once in settings, applied everywhere, with no need to reopen a different color inspector in every piece of software.
• One history for every use case: your last 8 picked colors stay one click away, even after switching between several apps.

Why macOS asks for a permission

To read the colour of a pixel inside another application, macOS requires the « Screen Recording » permission. There is no other way: without it, a colour picker cannot see the content of other windows. SeventyColor reads ONE SINGLE PIXEL, the one under your cursor, and only while you are picking. No image is kept, nothing ever leaves your Mac.

Retina accuracy and multiple displays

The system loupe reads the real value of the displayed pixel, HiDPI and Retina included, with none of the drift a compressed screenshot can introduce. It also works on any display connected to the Mac: one mouse move is enough to switch monitors mid-pick.

Mistakes to avoid

• Guessing a color by eye instead of picking it: the gap is almost always bigger than it looks.
• Copying from an already-compressed screenshot (JPEG): the color can drift slightly from the original.
• Picking the same color again and again out of habit: the 8-color history removes that detour.

Get SeventyColor: 7-day trial, then a lifetime license.