PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text

Got a scanned PDF with no selectable text? Extract every word using OCR. Use our online tool for quick jobs or download the desktop app for the best accuracy on complex documents.

Try PDF OCR Online About the Desktop App

Upload PDF or Image

Drop a PDF page screenshot or image. For multi-page PDFs, screenshot each page or use the desktop app.

Drop PDF screenshot or image here

PNG, JPG, BMP, WebP — up to 10MB

Extracting text from PDF...

Extracted Text

When You Need PDF OCR

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Scanned Documents

Paper documents scanned to PDF. Government forms, legal docs, medical records — all image-only with no selectable text.

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Academic Papers

Old academic papers, textbooks, and research PDFs that were scanned from print. Extract citations and quotes easily.

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Financial Documents

Bank statements, invoices, tax forms, and receipts saved as PDF scans. Pull numbers and data for spreadsheets.

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Contracts & Legal

Signed contracts and legal documents are often scanned. OCR lets you search, copy, and reference specific clauses.

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Legacy Archives

Digitized archives, historical records, and old company files. Make them searchable and accessible.

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Forms & Applications

Job applications, insurance forms, and questionnaires. Extract filled-in data from scanned copies.

Desktop App: Best for PDF OCR

Our desktop app gives you superpowers for PDF text extraction.

Capture Any Region

Open your PDF in any viewer (Adobe, Chrome, Edge). Press Ctrl+Shift+S and drag over the text you need. Extracted text lands in your clipboard instantly. No need to process the whole file.

6-Pass Multi-Algorithm OCR

Runs upscaling, Otsu thresholding, contrast enhancement, grayscale conversion, and aggressive preprocessing in parallel. Picks the best result automatically. Far better than single-pass online OCR.

Learn about the Desktop App

PDF OCR FAQ

Can I OCR a multi-page PDF?
The online tool works page-by-page (upload a screenshot of each page). For multi-page PDFs, the desktop app is better — open the PDF and capture each region you need with Ctrl+Shift+S.
Will it work on a PDF that already has selectable text?
If your PDF already has selectable text, you can just copy-paste directly (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C). OCR is only needed for image-based/scanned PDFs where text can't be selected.
How do I know if my PDF needs OCR?
Open the PDF and try to select text with your mouse. If you can highlight individual words, it already has text. If clicking just selects the whole page as an image, you need OCR.
Does it handle poor quality scans?
The online tool does basic OCR. For poor quality scans, the desktop app is much better — it auto-enhances contrast, upscales, and runs multiple OCR algorithms to get the best result.
Is my PDF data secure?
The online tool processes images entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded. The desktop app is 100% offline. Your documents never leave your machine.

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