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OCR PDF — Make Scanned PDFs Searchable

Recognize text in scanned PDFs and images and turn them into searchable, copyable PDFs or plain text. Runs locally in your browser.

Choose files

or drag and dropPDF, JPG, PNG, WEBP

Tip: sharp scans with at least 300 dpi give the best results.

Your files never leave your device — everything runs locally in your browser.

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How it works

  1. 1

    Upload a scan

    Upload a scanned PDF or photos (JPG, PNG, WEBP).

  2. 2

    Choose the language

    German and English are preselected; more languages can be added.

  3. 3

    Recognize text

    Recognition runs page by page with a progress bar.

  4. 4

    Use the result

    Download a searchable PDF or plain text, or copy the text directly.

Typical uses

  • Make scanned contracts and letters searchable.
  • Copy text from photos of documents, invoices or book pages.
  • Prepare scans for editing in Word.

Tips

  • Straight, well-lit scans at 300 DPI give the best results.
  • The page image stays untouched; the recognized text sits invisibly on top, so the original is preserved.
  • Pages that already contain text are skipped automatically.

Related guides

Lightning Fast

All processing happens instantly in your browser — no server uploads needed.

100% Private

Your files never leave your device. Everything is processed locally.

Free Forever

No sign-up, no watermarks, no file limits. Completely free to use.

98 Languages

Available in 98 languages worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is OCR?

Optical character recognition turns text in scanned pages or photos into real, searchable and copyable text.

Which languages are supported?

German and English are included; more languages can be selected and are loaded on demand.

Are my scans uploaded?

No. Recognition runs locally in your browser; only the language data is downloaded once.