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Scan to searchable PDF (OCR)

Recognize text in scans, then search or copy it.

Drop your file here

Choose a file to begin.

PDF files · up to 100 MB each

English text recognition runs on your device. Results depend on scan quality. Review recognized text, especially numbers and names.

Your documents are processed on this device.

How to make a scanned PDF searchable

Use optical character recognition to add searchable English text to scanned pages. The OCR engine runs in your browser, with processing time depending on page count and your device.

  1. Choose a scanned PDF with clear English text.
  2. Choose all pages or a page range, then select Recognize text. Keep this tab open.
  3. Download the searchable PDF and check names, numbers, and other important text.

Does OCR reconstruct a fully editable document?

OCR adds a recognized text layer to page images; it does not reconstruct the original layout as editable paragraphs. You can export the recognized text with PDF to Word or PDF to text afterward.

Free to use. No account required. Documents are processed on your device. How file privacy works.