PDF to Word
Convert PDF documents into editable Word files (.docx).
OCR PDF: extract the text from a scanned PDF
Scanned documents are just pictures of text. OCR reads the words on each page and gives them back to you as a text file, an editable Word document or a searchable PDF.
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How to OCR a PDF
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Step 1: Select or drop your scanned PDF.
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Step 2: Choose the language of the document.
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Step 3: Click Run OCR and wait while each page is read.
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Step 4: Download the extracted text, the Word document or the searchable PDF.
Find what you need in a scan
Without OCR, a scanned contract or an old report can't be searched, and copying a sentence means retyping it. After OCR you can press Ctrl+F, jump straight to a word and copy text into an email or document.
Searchable PDFs are also easier to index in document management systems and more accessible to screen readers.
How does OCR work here?
Each page is rendered at 300 DPI and read by Tesseract, an open-source OCR engine. The recognized words are placed as invisible text exactly over their position on the page image, so the document looks the same as the scan but behaves like a text PDF.
Accuracy depends on the scan: sharp, straight, high-contrast pages give the best results, while handwriting, low resolution or unusual fonts lead to more errors. Long documents can take a while to process.
Frequently asked questions
Which languages are supported?
English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Indonesian and Vietnamese. Pick the language the document is written in for the best accuracy.
Will my PDF look different?
No. The page images are kept and the recognized text is added as an invisible layer on top.
Why are some words wrong?
OCR is only as good as the scan. Blurry, skewed or low-contrast pages, handwriting and decorative fonts reduce accuracy. Rescanning at a higher resolution usually helps.
What happens to my scan after OCR?
The uploaded file is deleted once processing finishes. The searchable PDF is available for 30 minutes and then deleted automatically, or you can delete it right away.
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