OCR PDF: Make a Scanned PDF Searchable
Free OCR for scanned PDFs: adds an invisible text layer so you can search, select and copy the words, and keeps every page as it was. No upload.
Select a scanned PDF
Drag & drop your PDF here, or click to browse
Pages that already have text are left exactly as they are
Files never leave your device
Processed entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded
No account required
No sign-up, no email, no usage counter
No file size limit
Bounded only by your own device memory
No watermarks
Your output comes back clean and unbranded
Your PDF is read in this browser tab and never uploaded. The OCR engine and its language file download once, the first time you use it.
About this tool
A scanned PDF is a stack of pictures of pages: it looks like text, but you can't search it, select a sentence or copy a figure out of it. OCR PDF reads each scanned page with optical character recognition and lays the recognized words over the page as an invisible text layer. The page looks exactly as it did, but Ctrl+F now finds words, you can highlight and copy them, and document systems can index the file. Pages that already contain real text are left untouched. It all happens in your browser, so a scanned contract, bank statement or ID card is never sent to a server.
How to Make a Scanned PDF Searchable
- 1
Drop in the PDF. Its first pages render straight away, and a scanned file is flagged so you know OCR has work to do.
- 2
Choose the document's language (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch) and start. The OCR engine and that language's data download once, the first time, then each scanned page is read in turn on your device.
- 3
Download the searchable PDF, or copy the recognized text straight from the preview or save it as a .txt file.
Why Use Wrklyst's OCR PDF
- Your Scans Stay on Your Device
- Recognition runs in the browser tab with Tesseract, the open-source OCR engine. Scanned identity documents, payslips and medical records are exactly the files that shouldn't be uploaded to an OCR service.
- The Pages Don't Change
- Rather than replacing each page with a re-rendered copy, the text is added as an invisible layer on top of the original. Scan quality, page size and file layout all stay as they were.
- Only the Pages That Need It
- A mixed PDF with some typed pages and some scanned ones is handled page by page: pages with real text are kept as they are, and only the image-only pages are read.
Tips for Better OCR Results
- Scan at 300 DPI. Phone photos of documents work too, as long as the page fills the frame and isn't tilted.
- Pick the language the document is actually written in; the wrong language model misreads accented letters.
- If you need to edit the text rather than search it, PDF to Word gives you a document you can rewrite.
- Run OCR before compressing. Heavy compression blurs scans and makes them harder to read.
Frequently asked questions
What does OCR do to a PDF?
OCR (optical character recognition) finds the letters in a scanned image and turns them into real text. In a PDF, that text is placed invisibly over the scanned page, word by word, so the page looks the same but you can search it, select words and copy them.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The PDF is opened, read and rebuilt inside your browser. The only download is the OCR engine and the language file, fetched once from a public CDN the first time you run the tool. Your document is never sent anywhere.
Which languages can it read?
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. For Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Chinese or Japanese, use PDF to Word, which reads those scripts and gives you editable text.
Why are some words wrong?
OCR is only as good as the scan. Blurry or low-resolution pages, skewed scans, stamps over text, decorative fonts and handwriting all cause errors. Scanning at 300 DPI with the page straight gives the best results.
Can I OCR a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. Remove the password with the Unlock PDF tool first, then run OCR on the unlocked copy.