Here is some JavaScript code that allows you to click the screen and get the clicked element's text contents (or value, in case of inputs).

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The approach is simple: we place an overlay so you don't really click the target element. When you click the overlay, we look up the element underneath it and show its text in a browser dialog. You can then copy it from there.

While moving the mouse, the detected element is highlighted.

Here is the one-liner URL that you can store as a bookmark. Place it in your bookmarks bar and click it to activate.

javascript:(function(){var overlay=document.createElement('div');Object.assign(overlay.style,{position:'fixed',top:0,left:0,width:'100vw',height:'100vh',zIndex:99999999,background:'transparent',cursor:'crosshair'});document.body.append(overlay);function getElement(event){overlay.style.pointerEvents='none';var element=document.elementFromPoint(event.clientX,event.clientY);overlay.style.pointerEvents='auto';return element};document.addEventListener('mousemove',function(event){var element=getElement(event);if(!element)return;var position=element.getBoundingClientRect();Object.assign(overlay.style,{background:'rgba(0, 128, 255, 0.25)',outline:'1px solid rgba(0, 128, 255, 0.5)',top:''+position.top+'px',left:''+position.left+'px',width:''+position.width+'px',height:''+position.height+'px'})});overlay.addEventListener('click',function(event){var element=getElement(event);var text=element.textContent||element.value;text=text.replace(/\n[ \n]+\n/g,"\n").replace(/\n\n+/g,"\n\n").replace(/^\n+|\n+$/g,'');if(!text.match("\n"))text=text.replace(/^ +| +$/,'');window.prompt('Press Ctrl+C to copy',text);document.body.removeChild(overlay)})})()

Here is the formatted JavaScript code:

(function() {
  var overlay = document.createElement('div');
  Object.assign(overlay.style, {
    position: 'fixed',
    top: 0,
    left: 0,
    width: '100vw',
    height: '100vh',
    zIndex: 99999999,
    background: 'transparent',
    cursor: 'crosshair'
  });
  document.body.append(overlay);

  function getElement(event) {
    overlay.style.pointerEvents = 'none';
    var element = document.elementFromPoint(event.clientX, event.clientY);
    overlay.style.pointerEvents = 'auto';

    return element;
  }

  document.addEventListener('mousemove', function(event) {
    var element = getElement(event);
    if (!element) return;

    var position = element.getBoundingClientRect();

    Object.assign(overlay.style, {
      background: 'rgba(0, 128, 255, 0.25)',
      outline: '1px solid rgba(0, 128, 255, 0.5)',
      top: '' + position.top + 'px',
      left: '' + position.left + 'px',
      width: '' + position.width + 'px',
      height: '' + position.height + 'px'
    });
  });

  overlay.addEventListener('click', function(event) {
    var element = getElement(event);
    var text = element.textContent || element.value;
    text = text.replace(/\n[ \n]+\n/g, "\n").replace(/\n\n+/g, "\n\n").replace(/^\n+|\n+$/g, '');
    if (!text.match("\n")) text = text.replace(/^ +| +$/, '')

    window.prompt('Press Ctrl+C to copy', text);
    document.body.removeChild(overlay);
  });
})()

You can also find it on GitHub Show archive.org snapshot . If you make any improvements, please let me know.

Things to note:

• We slightly clean up found text: leading or trailing blank lines are remove while keeping indentation whitespace; indentation whitespace is only removed when there is a single line of text.
• The script focuses the element underneath the mouse pointer. If container elements have no borders or padding, you may only be select the inner elements, not the container.
• You could extend this script to use the execCommand API and copy directly into the clipboard. Using a simple prompt allows the user to see the content and decide if they want to copy or not.