OCR PDF
Turn a scanned PDF into searchable, selectable text in English, Arabic, Persian, Dari, Pashto, Urdu and more. Free and processed in your browser.
How to use OCR PDF
- Upload a scanned or image-only PDF.
- Pick the language of the document: English, Arabic, Persian/Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese or Italian.
- Run OCR and download a PDF that looks the same but has searchable, selectable text.
Common uses
- Making scanned certificates and transcripts searchable
- Copying text out of a scanned letter or book page
- Preparing scans for PDF to Word conversion
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take?
Text recognition is real work: allow up to about a minute per page, depending on your device. Keep the tab open while it runs.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Recognition runs in your browser. Only the language data is downloaded the first time you use a language.
Will the PDF look different?
No. The recognised text is added as an invisible layer on top of each page, so the pages look the same but can be searched and selected.
Related tools
- PDF to Word — Real editable text, headings preserved
- PDF to Markdown — Real text extraction, headings kept
- Scan to PDF — Capture pages with your camera, save as PDF
- Compress PDF — Reduce file size, keep it readable