diff --git a/widget/editor.go b/widget/editor.go
index 9cb31bc8..39237dbf 100644
--- a/widget/editor.go
+++ b/widget/editor.go
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ type Editor struct {
 	// all characters are allowed.
 	Filter string
 
-	buffer       *editBuffer
+	buffer *editBuffer
+	// scratch is a byte buffer that is reused to efficiently read portions of text
+	// from the textView.
+	scratch      []byte
 	eventKey     int
 	blinkStart   time.Time
 	focused      bool
@@ -320,8 +323,9 @@ func (e *Editor) processKey(gtx layout.Context) {
 			}
 			if !e.ReadOnly && e.Submit && (ke.Name == key.NameReturn || ke.Name == key.NameEnter) {
 				if !ke.Modifiers.Contain(key.ModShift) {
+					e.scratch = e.text.Text(e.scratch)
 					e.events = append(e.events, SubmitEvent{
-						Text: e.text.Text(),
+						Text: string(e.scratch),
 					})
 					continue
 				}
@@ -358,8 +362,9 @@ func (e *Editor) processKey(gtx layout.Context) {
 				if e.text.Changed() {
 					e.events = append(e.events, ChangeEvent{})
 				}
+				e.scratch = e.text.Text(e.scratch)
 				e.events = append(e.events, SubmitEvent{
-					Text: e.text.Text(),
+					Text: string(e.scratch),
 				})
 			}
 		// Complete a paste event, initiated by Shortcut-V in Editor.command().
@@ -450,7 +455,8 @@ func (e *Editor) command(gtx layout.Context, k key.Event) {
 		}
 	// Copy or Cut selection -- ignored if nothing selected.
 	case "C", "X":
-		if text := e.text.SelectedText(); text != "" {
+		e.scratch = e.text.SelectedText(e.scratch)
+		if text := string(e.scratch); text != "" {
 			clipboard.WriteOp{Text: text}.Add(gtx.Ops)
 			if k.Name == "X" && !e.ReadOnly {
 				e.Delete(1)
@@ -686,7 +692,8 @@ func (e *Editor) Len() int {
 // Text returns the contents of the editor.
 func (e *Editor) Text() string {
 	e.initBuffer()
-	return e.text.Text()
+	e.scratch = e.text.Text(e.scratch)
+	return string(e.scratch)
 }
 
 func (e *Editor) SetText(s string) {
@@ -954,7 +961,8 @@ func (e *Editor) SetCaret(start, end int) {
 // SelectedText returns the currently selected text (if any) from the editor.
 func (e *Editor) SelectedText() string {
 	e.initBuffer()
-	return e.text.SelectedText()
+	e.scratch = e.text.SelectedText(e.scratch)
+	return string(e.scratch)
 }
 
 // ClearSelection clears the selection, by setting the selection end equal to
diff --git a/widget/selectable.go b/widget/selectable.go
index 9cdd1fc6..ee88935c 100644
--- a/widget/selectable.go
+++ b/widget/selectable.go
@@ -50,8 +50,11 @@ func (s stringSource) ReplaceRunes(byteOffset, runeCount int64, str string) {
 
 // Selectable holds text selection state.
 type Selectable struct {
-	initialized  bool
-	source       stringSource
+	initialized bool
+	source      stringSource
+	// scratch is a buffer reused to efficiently read text out of the
+	// textView.
+	scratch      []byte
 	lastValue    string
 	text         textView
 	focused      bool
@@ -127,7 +130,8 @@ func (l *Selectable) SetCaret(start, end int) {
 // SelectedText returns the currently selected text (if any) from the editor.
 func (l *Selectable) SelectedText() string {
 	l.initialize()
-	return l.text.SelectedText()
+	l.scratch = l.text.SelectedText(l.scratch)
+	return string(l.scratch)
 }
 
 // ClearSelection clears the selection, by setting the selection end equal to
@@ -140,7 +144,8 @@ func (l *Selectable) ClearSelection() {
 // Text returns the contents of the label.
 func (l *Selectable) Text() string {
 	l.initialize()
-	return l.text.Text()
+	l.scratch = l.text.Text(l.scratch)
+	return string(l.scratch)
 }
 
 // SetText updates the text to s if it does not already contain s. Updating the
@@ -325,7 +330,8 @@ func (e *Selectable) command(gtx layout.Context, k key.Event) {
 		e.text.MoveEnd(selAct)
 	// Copy or Cut selection -- ignored if nothing selected.
 	case "C", "X":
-		if text := e.text.SelectedText(); text != "" {
+		e.scratch = e.text.SelectedText(e.scratch)
+		if text := string(e.scratch); text != "" {
 			clipboard.WriteOp{Text: text}.Add(gtx.Ops)
 		}
 	// Select all
diff --git a/widget/text.go b/widget/text.go
index a5694c05..94010b20 100644
--- a/widget/text.go
+++ b/widget/text.go
@@ -338,11 +338,19 @@ func (e *textView) Len() int {
 	return e.closestToRune(math.MaxInt).runes
 }
 
-// Text returns the contents of the editor.
-func (e *textView) Text() string {
+// Text returns the contents of the editor. If the provided buf is large enough, it will
+// be filled and returned. Otherwise a new buffer will be allocated.
+// Callers can guarantee that buf is large enough by giving it capacity e.Len()*utf8.UTFMax.
+func (e *textView) Text(buf []byte) []byte {
+	size := e.rr.Size()
+	if cap(buf) < int(size) {
+		buf = make([]byte, size)
+	}
+	buf = buf[:size]
 	e.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
-	b, _ := io.ReadAll(e)
-	return string(b)
+	n, _ := io.ReadFull(e, buf)
+	buf = buf[:n]
+	return buf
 }
 
 func (e *textView) ScrollBounds() image.Rectangle {
@@ -632,19 +640,26 @@ func (e *textView) SetCaret(start, end int) {
 	e.caret.end = e.closestToRune(end).runes
 }
 
-// SelectedText returns the currently selected text (if any) from the editor.
-func (e *textView) SelectedText() string {
+// SelectedText returns the currently selected text (if any) from the editor,
+// filling the provided byte slice if it is large enough or allocating and
+// returning a new byte slice if the provided one is insufficient.
+// Callers can guarantee that the buf is large enough by providing a buffer
+// with capacity e.SelectionLen()*utf8.UTFMax.
+func (e *textView) SelectedText(buf []byte) []byte {
 	startOff := e.runeOffset(e.caret.start)
 	endOff := e.runeOffset(e.caret.end)
 	start := min(startOff, endOff)
 	end := max(startOff, endOff)
-	buf := make([]byte, end-start)
+	if cap(buf) < end-start {
+		buf = make([]byte, end-start)
+	}
+	buf = buf[:end-start]
 	n, _ := e.rr.ReadAt(buf, int64(start))
 	// There is no way to reasonably handle a read error here. We rely upon
 	// implementations of textSource to provide other ways to signal errors
 	// if the user cares about that, and here we use whatever data we were
 	// able to read.
-	return string(buf[:n])
+	return buf[:n]
 }
 
 func (e *textView) updateSelection(selAct selectionAction) {