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OCR PDF Online

Turn a scanned PDF into one you can search, select and copy text from. The recognition runs in your browser, so the scan of your ID, bill or book is never handed to anyone else.

  • Free
  • No signup
  • Nothing uploaded
  • No watermark

Drop a file here

PDF file · read on your device, never uploaded

The text reader is about 12 MB and downloads the first time you use it, then works offline. Other languages download a little more the first time. Long documents take a while, because every page is read.

Processed entirely on your device. Nothing was uploaded.

How to Make a Scanned PDF Searchable

OCR PDF Online: before and after PDF A BEFORE OCR PDF PDF A AFTER

A PDF made with a scanner or a phone camera looks like text, but to a computer each page is only a photograph. Ctrl+F finds nothing, you cannot copy a sentence, and a screen reader stays silent. OCR, short for optical character recognition, reads the letters in those pictures and turns them into real text.

Choose your scanned PDF, check the language, and press Run OCR. Page after page is read and then assembled into a new PDF that looks exactly like your scan, with an invisible layer of recognised text laid over each page. Search, highlight and copy then work as they do in any typed document.

The recognition engine is fetched into your browser on first use and then does all the reading right there. No server sees your pages, an important point for scanned Aadhaar cards, bank statements and medical reports.

No software to install Free Works on any device

Run OCR on Your Scan in Five Steps

The tool is just above this guide.

  1. 1. Open the OCR PDF tool

    You are here already. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all work. A computer is quicker than a phone for long documents because reading every page takes real effort.

  2. 2. Choose your scanned PDF

    Press the button to pick a PDF, or drag it onto the box. One document is processed at a time, and the page count appears once it has loaded.

  3. 3. Check the document language

    The "Language of the document" menu starts on English. Leave it there for English scans; the engine recognises letters far better when it knows which language to expect.

  4. 4. Choose searchable PDF or plain text

    Leave "Keep the page images and make them searchable" ticked to get a PDF that looks like the original. Untick it if you only want the words, saved as a .txt file.

  5. 5. Press Run OCR

    The first run downloads the engine, then each page is read in turn while a progress bar counts them. When it finishes, the file saves with "-searchable" or "-ocr" added to its name, and you see how many words were recognised.

No .pdf file to hand? Download a sample PDF file (6.3 KB) and try it.

Try it now

What is OCR for PDFs?

Optical character recognition is software that looks at a picture of text and works out which letters are there. For a scanned PDF, each page is turned into a high-resolution image, the engine finds lines and words on it, and matches the shapes against the letters of the chosen language.

The recognised words are then placed invisibly over the page image in the same positions. The page still looks like your scan, stamps and handwriting included, but a PDF reader can now find, select and copy the text underneath.

Searchable PDF

.PDF

Your scan, looking the same, with a hidden layer of real text you can search.

What OCR makes possible

  • Search a scan with Ctrl+F
  • Copy text instead of retyping
  • Quote from scanned books
  • Make old archives findable
  • Help screen readers read aloud
  • Pull figures from scanned bills
  • Search old legal papers

Why OCR a Scanned PDF?

A scan you cannot search is a scan you have to read from the start every time. OCR turns a stack of page photos into a document you can search in seconds and quote from without retyping a word.

“Stop retyping what is already on the page.”
  • Find any word instantly
  • No retyping by hand
  • Searchable document archives
  • Text export for editing
  • Copy and paste text
  • Better accessibility
  • Original look kept
  • Private scans stay private

Popular Uses for OCR PDF

Scans people most often need to search or copy from.

  • Bills and receipts Make scanned utility bills and receipts searchable by amount, date or account number.
  • Bank statements Turn a scanned statement into text you can search for a transaction or payee.
  • Book chapters and notes Copy quotes from a scanned chapter or photocopied notes into your assignment.
  • Old agreements Search a scanned lease or deed for a clause without reading every page.
  • Office archives Make years of scanned letters and forms searchable before filing them away.
  • Question papers Get the text of an old scanned exam paper to practise or type up answers.
  • Printed reports Pull paragraphs and numbers out of a report that only exists on paper.
  • Accessible documents Give a screen reader real text to read from a scanned handout.

OCR PDF Features

What you get from each run.

Output

Searchable PDF

Each page keeps its scanned appearance, with recognised text placed invisibly on top so it can be found and selected.

Output

Plain text option

Untick the page images option to download only the words as a .txt file, ready to paste into Word.

Pages

Every page read

The whole document is processed page by page, with a live count so you know how far it has got.

Accuracy

High-resolution reading

Pages are rendered at a high resolution before recognition, which helps with small print.

Privacy

Runs on your device

The recognition engine loads into the browser once. After that, your pages are read locally, never on a server.

Result

Word count at the end

When it finishes you see how many words were recognised across how many pages, a quick sign it worked.

Why Use ToolXkit for OCR PDF?

No upload of scans

Scans of IDs and statements are exactly what you should not send to unknown servers. Here they are read in your tab.

OCR PDF for Everyday Needs

Students

Search and quote from scanned books, notes and question papers.

Office staff

Make scanned letters, forms and files searchable.

Legal professionals

Find clauses in scanned agreements and court papers.

Accountants

Search scanned bills and statements for figures.

Researchers and librarians

Turn scanned archives into searchable records.

People using screen readers

Give scanned documents text that can be read aloud.

Good Times to Use OCR

Run OCR on a PDF when you are:

  • Unable to search a scanned file
  • About to retype text from a scan
  • Building a searchable archive
  • Quoting from a scanned book
  • Looking for one figure in many bills
  • Making a handout accessible
  • Preparing scans for comparison
  • Checking an old scanned contract

Tips for Better OCR Results

  1. Sharp, straight, well-lit scans read best. Blurry phone photos taken at an angle give many wrong letters.

  2. Fix sideways pages with Rotate PDF before running OCR. Text must be upright to be recognised well.

  3. English is the default language, and English scans give the most reliable results today.

  4. Only run OCR on scans. A PDF made from Word already has real text, and OCR would replace it with a picture plus guessed text.

  5. The searchable PDF can be larger than the scan. Shrink it with our Compress PDF tool when it is too heavy to email.

  6. Proofread numbers, names and dates in the result. OCR is good but not perfect, especially with 0 and O or 1 and l.

  7. Long documents are much faster on a computer. Leave the tab open until the progress bar finishes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about this tool.

How do I make a scanned PDF searchable?

Choose the scanned PDF, keep the language on English for English documents, leave "Keep the page images" ticked and press Run OCR. You get a new PDF, ending in -searchable, where Ctrl+F finds words and you can select and copy text.

How do I copy text from a scanned PDF?

Run it through this tool first. Scanned pages hold pictures of letters, not letters themselves. After OCR, open the searchable PDF and select text as usual, or untick "Keep the page images" to download all the words as a .txt file.

Is this OCR tool free?

Yes. There is no page limit, no account and no watermark. The only cost is a one-time download of the recognition engine to your browser, after which it is ready for the rest of your visit.

Does my scan leave my computer during OCR?

No, never. The recognition engine is downloaded to your browser and reads your pages there. Your scan is not sent anywhere, so bank statements, ID cards and medical papers stay on your own device.

Why is OCR slow on my file?

The tool really reads every page, one at a time, at high resolution. A few pages take moments; a hundred-page book takes a while, especially on a phone. The first run also downloads the engine. Keep this tab open while it works.

Will the PDF look different after OCR?

No. Each page keeps its scanned image, so it looks the same, including stamps and signatures. The recognised text sits invisibly on top. The file size may grow, because the page images are saved again at a high resolution.

How accurate is the OCR?

Clean, printed text at a good resolution usually comes out very accurately. Accuracy drops with blurry photos, tilted pages, tiny print, handwriting and decorative fonts. Always check important numbers and names in the result.

Can it read handwriting?

Not reliably. The engine is trained on printed text. Neat block capitals sometimes work, but joined-up handwriting usually produces mostly wrong characters.

Which languages does it support?

The tool is tuned for English, which is where the "Language of the document" menu starts and the language it reads most dependably. Support for scans in other languages is limited at the moment, so English documents are the safe choice.

Should I run OCR on a PDF that came from Word?

No. A PDF saved from Word, Google Docs or a website already contains real text. OCR would replace it with page images and recognised text, which can only be less accurate. Use OCR on scans and photos only.

How do I get a scanned document into Word?

Run OCR here with "Keep the page images" unticked to get the text as a .txt file, then paste it into Word. Headings and tables will need tidying, since plain text carries no layout.

Does it work on photos, not PDFs?

This page takes PDFs. For JPG, PNG or screenshots, use our Image to Text tool, which reads text from photos in the same private way.

How much smaller will my PDF get?

It depends on what is inside. PDFs full of photos or scans often shrink a lot, while files that are mostly text are already small and change little. The compressor never hands back a file larger than the one you gave it.

Will compressing reduce the quality?

Pictures inside the PDF are made lighter, so very close zooming may show a little softness. Text stays sharp because it is not an image. For exam portals, pick the target size the form asks for and check the result before uploading.

Further reading

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