OCR for scanned PDF pages
This OCR PDF tool reads selectable text directly when a page already has a text layer. If a page has no selectable text, it renders the page in this browser and runs a bundled English printed-text OCR model. It combines the page results into a plain TXT download with page markers.
“PDF text recognition,” “OCR online,” and “scan to text” describe the same goal of making printed page text searchable or copyable. A scan is an image, so recognition can mistake letters, numbers, punctuation, columns, and reading order.
This page does not recognize handwriting. It does not recreate the original PDF layout, tables, or formatting. Review the TXT output against the source before using it.
How recognition runs
- Choose one PDF file up to 20 MB.
- Select “Recognize and download TXT.” Selectable text is extracted; pages without it are rendered and checked with English OCR in this browser.
- Open the text file and compare uncertain words, figures, symbols, and page order with the original.
The chosen PDF is not uploaded to a document-processing server. The tool does not alter the source file. Password-encrypted, malformed, unsupported, or image-heavy PDFs may fail or take longer to process. There is no handwritten-text mode.
Frequently asked questions
Can OCR make scanned PDF text copyable?
It can produce recognized English printed text in a separate TXT file. Recognition can be wrong, so compare the text with the scan before relying on it.
Does OCR PDF recognize handwriting?
No. This page uses an English printed-text model and does not provide handwriting recognition.
Will the TXT file keep the PDF layout?
No. It contains plain text separated by page markers. It does not preserve the visual layout, fonts, tables, or columns.
Only process PDFs you own or are authorized to read.