How do I make a scanned PDF searchable?

Choose or drop the PDF, check the page list, and turn any sideways page upright with the Turn buttons, using the arrows above the preview to move between pages. Pick a render DPI (200 is the default and the highest) and press Convert. Each page is drawn, read and added to a new PDF; when every page is done, download the searchable PDF or the text as a .txt file, or copy the text. The Word document option downloads the recognized text as .docx for editing in a word processor.

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. The PDF is opened, drawn and read in your browser tab: PDF.js draws the pages, Tesseract reads them in a Web Worker, and pdf-lib writes the new file, all from code and a model this site serves. Nothing about the file or its text is sent to this site or to anyone else, and the only things remembered, on your device, are your DPI and word box settings.

What does converting lose?

Every page becomes a picture with invisible text over it, so links stop working, form fields can no longer be filled in, a digital signature is not carried over, and vector text and drawings become pixels. The tool lists this before you convert, and names the pages in your file that have links or already hold selectable text. Your original PDF is not changed: a new file is made.

Does it keep the page size and order?

Yes. Tesseract sizes its own page from a resolution it guesses, so each page it returns is scaled back to the original page's size in points before it is added: a US Letter page stays 612 x 792 points, and one you turned a quarter becomes 792 x 612. Pages come out in the order you type in the page list, so 3, 1 puts page 3 first.

Which PDFs does it refuse?

Files over 25 MB or 30 pages, encrypted or password protected PDFs, and PDFs whose scanned images are compressed as JBIG2, CCITT fax or JPEG 2000 are refused with the reason before any page is read. Those three image formats cannot be decoded by this page in the browser, so their pages would come out blank; scanning again in grayscale or colour usually gives JPEG images, which work. A damaged file, or a page that fails during conversion, stops with the reason, and no partial PDF is offered.

Why are some words marked?

After converting, the review shows each page's text, and words Tesseract scored below 60 out of 100 are marked, with the lowest-scoring word named, so you know where to check first. With word boxes on, the same words are outlined in red on the page preview. A high score is not a promise that a word is right, so read the rest too.

Can it read handwriting, other languages or tables?

No. The model is Tesseract's fast English model for printed text. Handwriting and other languages come out wrong or not at all, and a table is read as lines of words rather than rebuilt as a table.

What does OCR mean, and how is a searchable PDF different from Word?

OCR means optical character recognition: it recognizes letters inside a scanned page or photograph. A searchable PDF keeps the page image and adds invisible words so a PDF reader can find or select them. A Word export contains editable recognized text. It does not reproduce the original columns, fonts, tables or pictures; review OCR errors in your word processor.

How do I convert a scanned PDF to editable Word text?

Open the PDF, select the pages, turn any sideways scans upright and press Convert. Review the recognized words, then choose Download Word. The .docx contains one paragraph per recognized line on A4 pages with one-inch margins; each selected source page starts on a new page in your chosen order. Empty source pages are marked. Correct the text in Word, LibreOffice or another compatible editor. It exports modern .docx rather than legacy .doc, and does not recreate the scan’s layout.

How do I extract or copy text from an image-based PDF?

Convert the PDF, review its recognized text, then use Copy or download Plain text. The UTF-8 .txt includes a heading with each original page number. This reads the words inside scanned images; to save the embedded pictures themselves, use PDF Image Extractor . Recognition is for printed English, so it will not reliably read handwriting or other languages.

Can I use PDF OCR on Mac, Windows or Linux?

Yes, open this page in a current browser and choose the PDF from your files. The same conversion and download controls run locally on those systems. This is a browser workflow; it does not install an application or add OCR to Preview or another desktop PDF reader. The first conversion loads the OCR engine from this site, so a fresh offline session is not supported.

Can I make JPG or PNG pictures into a searchable PDF?

First combine the pictures with Image to PDF , download that PDF and open it here for OCR. For one picture whose words you want to correct before downloading Word, use Image to Word . Merely putting a picture in a PDF does not recognize its text.

Does this produce PDF/A, an Excel table or a PDF with OCR removed?

No. The output is a searchable PDF, Word text or plain text. It does not validate archival PDF/A compliance, reconstruct spreadsheet cells or strip an existing OCR layer. A PDF that already has selectable text is still rasterized and recognized again, so use an appropriate text extraction or editing tool if you need to preserve that original text.

Can I change the recognized text before downloading?

This page shows recognized text for review but does not edit it. Download Word or TXT and make corrections in your editor. Those corrections do not update the invisible text layer in the searchable PDF. For a single JPG or PNG, Image to Word provides an editable review pane before export.

Searchable PDF OCR

Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable PDF, an editable Word document or a plain text file. Choose the pages and their order, turn sideways scans upright, then convert and review the recognized words. OCR reads printed English in your browser; your PDF is never uploaded. The searchable PDF keeps each page as an image with an invisible text layer. Word contains the recognized text with page breaks, without the original layout, tables or pictures. This tool accepts PDFs up to 25 MB and 30 pages.

Drop a scanned PDF here

, up to 25 MB and 30 pages, or

Never uploadedNo accountEngine served by this siteOriginal left untouched

Pages

Render

Turn page

Pages are converted in the order you type them, like 1-3, 5 or 4, 1. Turn a sideways page upright before converting; the arrows above the preview move between pages. PDFs of up to 30 pages are read.

Searchable PDFeach page an image with hidden text
nothing to download yet
Word document.docx, editable text; original layout is not preserved
nothing to download yet
Plain text.txt, page by page, UTF-8
nothing to download yet
Clipboardthe same text as the .txt
nothing to copy yet
Word boxesoutlined on the preview
after the first conversion

Read in this tab, with files this site serves. The engine is tesseract.js 7.0.0 with tesseract.js-core 7.0.0, LSTM build without SIMD, and the model is tessdata_fast English (eng.traineddata), SHA-256 beginning 7d4322bd2a77, retrieved 2026-09-21. The model is checked against that pinned checksum before any page is read, and a mismatch stops the tool instead of guessing. Pages are drawn by PDF.js and the new file is put together by pdf-lib, both in this tab. The PDF is never uploaded; only your DPI and word box settings are remembered on this device. Credit: Tesseract.js and tessdata_fast, both under the Apache License 2.0 (engine licence, model licence, bundled notices).

Common questions

How do I make a scanned PDF searchable?: Choose or drop the PDF, check the page list, and turn any sideways page upright with the Turn buttons, using the arrows above the preview to move between pages. Pick a render DPI (200 is the default and the highest) and press Convert. Each page is drawn, read and added to a new PDF; when every page is done, download the searchable PDF or the text as a .txt file, or copy the text. The Word document option downloads the recognized text as .docx for editing in a word processor.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?: No. The PDF is opened, drawn and read in your browser tab: PDF.js draws the pages, Tesseract reads them in a Web Worker, and pdf-lib writes the new file, all from code and a model this site serves. Nothing about the file or its text is sent to this site or to anyone else, and the only things remembered, on your device, are your DPI and word box settings.
What does converting lose?: Every page becomes a picture with invisible text over it, so links stop working, form fields can no longer be filled in, a digital signature is not carried over, and vector text and drawings become pixels. The tool lists this before you convert, and names the pages in your file that have links or already hold selectable text. Your original PDF is not changed: a new file is made.
Does it keep the page size and order?: Yes. Tesseract sizes its own page from a resolution it guesses, so each page it returns is scaled back to the original page's size in points before it is added: a US Letter page stays 612 x 792 points, and one you turned a quarter becomes 792 x 612. Pages come out in the order you type in the page list, so 3, 1 puts page 3 first.
Which PDFs does it refuse?: Files over 25 MB or 30 pages, encrypted or password protected PDFs, and PDFs whose scanned images are compressed as JBIG2, CCITT fax or JPEG 2000 are refused with the reason before any page is read. Those three image formats cannot be decoded by this page in the browser, so their pages would come out blank; scanning again in grayscale or colour usually gives JPEG images, which work. A damaged file, or a page that fails during conversion, stops with the reason, and no partial PDF is offered.
Why are some words marked?: After converting, the review shows each page's text, and words Tesseract scored below 60 out of 100 are marked, with the lowest-scoring word named, so you know where to check first. With word boxes on, the same words are outlined in red on the page preview. A high score is not a promise that a word is right, so read the rest too.
Can it read handwriting, other languages or tables?: No. The model is Tesseract's fast English model for printed text. Handwriting and other languages come out wrong or not at all, and a table is read as lines of words rather than rebuilt as a table.
What does OCR mean, and how is a searchable PDF different from Word?: OCR means optical character recognition: it recognizes letters inside a scanned page or photograph. A searchable PDF keeps the page image and adds invisible words so a PDF reader can find or select them. A Word export contains editable recognized text. It does not reproduce the original columns, fonts, tables or pictures; review OCR errors in your word processor.
How do I convert a scanned PDF to editable Word text?: Open the PDF, select the pages, turn any sideways scans upright and press Convert. Review the recognized words, then choose Download Word. The .docx contains one paragraph per recognized line on A4 pages with one-inch margins; each selected source page starts on a new page in your chosen order. Empty source pages are marked. Correct the text in Word, LibreOffice or another compatible editor. It exports modern .docx rather than legacy .doc, and does not recreate the scan’s layout.
How do I extract or copy text from an image-based PDF?: Convert the PDF, review its recognized text, then use Copy or download Plain text. The UTF-8 .txt includes a heading with each original page number. This reads the words inside scanned images; to save the embedded pictures themselves, use <a href="/pdf-image-extractor">PDF Image Extractor</a>. Recognition is for printed English, so it will not reliably read handwriting or other languages.
Can I use PDF OCR on Mac, Windows or Linux?: Yes, open this page in a current browser and choose the PDF from your files. The same conversion and download controls run locally on those systems. This is a browser workflow; it does not install an application or add OCR to Preview or another desktop PDF reader. The first conversion loads the OCR engine from this site, so a fresh offline session is not supported.
Can I make JPG or PNG pictures into a searchable PDF?: First combine the pictures with <a href="/image-to-pdf">Image to PDF</a>, download that PDF and open it here for OCR. For one picture whose words you want to correct before downloading Word, use <a href="/image-to-word">Image to Word</a>. Merely putting a picture in a PDF does not recognize its text.
Does this produce PDF/A, an Excel table or a PDF with OCR removed?: No. The output is a searchable PDF, Word text or plain text. It does not validate archival PDF/A compliance, reconstruct spreadsheet cells or strip an existing OCR layer. A PDF that already has selectable text is still rasterized and recognized again, so use an appropriate text extraction or editing tool if you need to preserve that original text.
Can I change the recognized text before downloading?: This page shows recognized text for review but does not edit it. Download Word or TXT and make corrections in your editor. Those corrections do not update the invisible text layer in the searchable PDF. For a single JPG or PNG, Image to Word provides an editable review pane before export.

Printed English is read by a pinned Tesseract model in your browser, and OCR can misread characters, so check the flagged low-scoring words against the page. Each page is redrawn as an image at up to 200 DPI with the text laid over it: page order, size and your chosen rotation are kept, but links, form fields, signatures and sharp vector text are lost, and this is shown before you convert. It does not read handwriting or other languages or rebuild tables; PDFs up to 25 MB and 30 pages are processed on your device and never uploaded.