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OCR PDF

Turn scanned PDFs into real text.

Run OCR on your scanned PDF and walk away with selectable, searchable text — free, in your browser, with no signup.

Start here

Upload your file to start

Supported formats: Scanned PDF input with searchable PDF output.

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What happens next

Your file opens in the matching tool so you can edit, convert, or export it without uploading it a second time.

  • No signup
  • No watermarks
  • Files deleted after 1 hour
ISO/IEC 27001 (in progress)
GDPR compliant
TLS 1.3
Files deleted after 1 hour
No signup required

How to OCR a PDF in 3 steps

Your scanned PDF opens in the OCR workflow the moment you upload it. You stay in the same browser tab from upload to searchable download.

  1. Upload your scanned PDF

    Drag your scanned PDF into the OCR workflow above, or click to browse. Your file stays in your browser until you download the searchable copy.

  2. Pick a language and run OCR

    Choose the OCR language that best matches your pages, then watch live progress while the browser recognizes text. You can step away and come back when recognition finishes.

  3. Download your searchable PDF

    Click Download when OCR finishes. Your searchable PDF carries a real text layer so you can select, search, and copy words you could not before.

Everything you need to OCR a PDF

Your OCR toolkit turns page images into selectable text with language control, progress visibility, and a clean export. You never pay extra, and your PDF never leaves your session.

  • Scanned PDF to selectable text

    OCR reads each page image and adds a hidden text layer that lines up with the visible characters. You get a PDF that looks the same but becomes searchable the moment it finishes.

  • Language-aware recognition

    Pick the OCR language that matches most of your pages for the most accurate result. You can reopen and rerun the workflow if your first pass needs a different language.

  • Progress you can see

    The workflow shows live OCR progress and keeps your file in the editor when it finishes. You avoid guessing whether a long scan has stalled or still has pages left to read.

  • No watermark, no signup

    Your searchable PDF exports clean with no watermark, no account, and no hidden limits on the diff between input and output. You keep the same document, just more useful.

Why people choose pdfclarity

  • Private by default

    Your PDFs are transferred over TLS and deleted within one hour. We don't look at them, and you don't need an account.

  • Fast and free

    Editing, annotating, signing, merging and splitting are free with no signup. Your first upload opens the editor in seconds.

  • Works in any browser

    Open the editor in Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge on Mac, Windows, Linux or Chromebook. You never install anything.

More ways to OCR a PDF

Scanned PDF to text

Turn a pile of scanned pages into text you can copy, search, and edit. Your scanned PDF keeps the original layout, but the new text layer means you never have to retype a quoted passage again.

OCR handwritten PDFs

OCR is strongest on printed type and less reliable on cursive handwriting, so the workflow is honest about quality trade-offs. You still get a searchable draft from clean handwriting that you can correct in the editor afterwards.

Extract text from PDF images

Pull selectable text out of PDFs that only contain page images — invoices, receipts, old book scans, screenshots-as-PDF. You keep the original PDF and download a searchable copy beside it.

Make a PDF searchable

Give your PDF a real text layer so file-manager search, Ctrl-F, and archive tools can find the words inside it. You stop having to open every scanned PDF just to check what it contains.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what people ask us most about editing a PDF online for free. Tap any question and the answer expands inline.

Does OCR preserve the original layout?
Yes. Your page images stay in place and OCR adds a searchable text layer on top, so the document still looks the way it did. Complex columns, tables, or handwritten pages can still diverge from native-text fidelity.
What languages does OCR support?
You can pick from a supported language list before recognition runs. Choose the language that matches most pages for the most accurate OCR output, and rerun with a different language if your first pass misses characters.
Can I edit text in a scanned PDF?
After OCR finishes, the searchable PDF opens in the same editor session so you can search, highlight, and continue working on your file. Deep native-text editing is still easier on PDFs that were born digital rather than scanned.
Will my OCR PDF have a watermark?
Never. Pdf Clarity does not add watermarks to your searchable PDF, ever.
Are my files safe?
Your PDF is transferred over TLS and deleted within one hour of upload. We don't look at it, and you don't need an account.
Is there a file size limit?
Files up to 100MB are supported on the free plan, which covers the PDFs most OCR jobs need.

Related PDF tools

Learn more

Ready to keep reading? You can go deeper on common tasks in the help center articles below.

You can also browse all PDF tools from the tools hub.