OCR PDF
Recognise the text in a scanned PDF and download a searchable PDF or a text file. English is supported and accuracy depends on scan quality.
How to use this tool
- Choose a scanned PDF.
- Select the language.
- Select Recognise text and wait; large pages take time.
- Download the searchable PDF or the text, and proofread it.
Before you start
Optical character recognition reads the shapes of printed letters in a scan and turns them into text. Results depend heavily on the scan: straight, sharp, well-lit pages work best, while skewed, faint or handwritten pages do not. The tool produces a searchable PDF and a plain text file. Always proofread names, numbers and dates before using the text.
When to use it
- Making a scanned form searchable.
- Pulling text out of a scanned letter.
- Preparing a scan for PDF to Excel.
Limits
English only for now. Accuracy depends on scan quality; handwriting is not supported. Up to 20 pages and 50 MB, so split larger files first. The engine and language data are downloaded from this site on first use. If the engine is not installed on the site, the tool says so and does nothing.
Privacy and file handling
Recognition runs in your browser with Tesseract.js. Your file and the recognised text are not uploaded.
Troubleshooting
If you see an engine-not-installed message, the site owner has not installed the OCR files yet. If text is poor, use a sharper scan.
Frequently asked questions
Which languages work?
English only at present. More are added only after they are installed and tested.
Is my document uploaded?
No. Recognition runs in your browser.
Can it read handwriting?
No. It is designed for printed text.