OCR PDF
Recognize text in scanned PDF documents using OCR
Drop PDF file here
or click to select files
OCR Language
Local Processing
OCR processing runs entirely on your computer.
Local processing — file never leaves your computer
No limit on the number of files or uses
Completely free and easy to use
OCR PDF step by step
- Upload a scanned PDF document
- Select the document language
- Click the OCR button
- Download the PDF with recognized text
When this tool helps
- Make a scanned document searchable, so you can find words in it with Ctrl+F.
- Copy text from a scan or from a photo of a page saved as PDF.
- Get the text of a scan as a TXT or Word (DOCX) file.
Good to know
- 33 recognition languages; choose the language of the document for the best result.
- The searchable PDF keeps the original page image and adds an invisible text layer on top of it.
- The first time you choose a language, its recognition data is downloaded from this site; the recognition itself runs in your browser. Very small or blurred print may be recognized with errors.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this tool free?
- Yes. No sign-up, no watermark and no limit on the number of files.
- Is my file uploaded to a server?
- No. Your file is processed in your browser and never reaches our server. You can check this in the Network tab of your browser's developer tools.
- Does it work on a phone?
- Yes. It works in the browser on a phone and a computer, with nothing to install.