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OCR PDF

Turn scanned PDFs into searchable, selectable text.

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Max 100 MB per file · PDF

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    Free No watermark No sign-up Files never uploaded
    Wrong language?Choose the document language before starting.
    Crooked scan?Straighten it first with Deskew Scanned PDF.
    Long scan?Up to 100 pages at a time.

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    How to use OCR PDF

    1. Select your PDF.Choose a scanned PDF — clear, straight scans work best.
    2. Choose the document language.Pick the language of the text for better recognition.
    3. Click OCR PDF.A hidden text layer is added; the pages keep their look.
    4. Check the text.Try selecting or searching a word in the PDF.

    About OCR PDF

    When is it useful? OCR PDF makes scanned PDFs searchable: after OCR you can search for words, select and copy text, and let screen readers read the document aloud.

    Good to know: choose the document language first (English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Spanish, French, German or Arabic). Up to 100 pages can be processed at a time, and clear, straight scans give the best results.

    Example: you scanned a 20-page rental agreement with your phone. Before OCR you cannot search it for the rent amount or the end date; after OCR you can press Ctrl+F, type “rent”, and jump straight to the right clause. The pages keep their look, and a hidden text layer is added on top.

    Tips for Better Results

    • Choose the document language before starting — it improves accuracy a lot.
    • Straighten crooked scans first with Deskew Scanned PDF.
    • Search the result with Ctrl+F to check that text was recognised.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Which languages can OCR read?
    Indian languages Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali, plus English, Spanish, French, German and Arabic.
    How do I check that it worked?
    Press Ctrl+F in your PDF viewer and search for a word.
    Do the pages look different after OCR?
    No. The pages keep their look; a hidden text layer is added on top.
    Works with: Adobe Reader · Chrome · Edge · Mac Preview · phone PDF viewers

    What converts well, and what doesn't

    Your scanned PDFAfter OCR
    Look of the pagesKept
    Hidden text layerAdded on top
    Search, select, copyNow possible
    LanguagesEnglish, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Spanish, French, German, Arabic
    Page limitUp to 100 pages at a time
    💡 Tip: Search the result with Ctrl+F to check that text was recognised.

    Common uses

    Rental agreementsSearch for clauses.
    Phone scansMake them searchable.
    Copy textSelect and copy.
    Screen readersRead aloud.
    ArchivesSearch old files.
    BooksFind words fast.

    Is my file safe?

    Browser processing: your files are processed on your own device and are never uploaded to our server.

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    Guide

    OCR PDF: a complete guide

    What OCR solves

    A scanned PDF is just pictures of pages. You can read it, but you cannot search for a word, copy a sentence or have it read aloud. OCR — optical character recognition — reads the letters in the pictures and adds real text to the PDF, so the document becomes searchable and copyable.

    What happens when you run OCR

    Choose the document's language: English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Spanish, French, German or Arabic. Each page is drawn at high resolution and read on your device, and a new PDF is built in which every page keeps its scanned look with a hidden text layer behind it. Up to 100 pages can be processed at a time; long documents take several minutes on slower devices.

    Which scans give the best results

    Straight, sharp, well-lit scans of printed text work best. Handwriting, very small print, stamps over text, faint photocopies and pages with heavy background patterns lower the accuracy. Straighten tilted scans first with Deskew Scanned PDF.

    Common problems and how to fix them

    Search finds nothing: check that the right language was chosen and run OCR again. Copied text has mistakes: OCR is never perfect — proofread important parts. The PDF has more than 100 pages: split it with Split PDF, run OCR on each part and merge them again.

    Good habits

    Run OCR on scans you will search later, keep the original scan, and use Image to Word or PDF to Word on the result when you need to edit the text.

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