Legal teams — search scanned contracts
Signed contracts and court filings are often kept as scans. OCR makes every clause searchable, without sending confidential documents to a server.
Make a scanned PDF searchable in your browser
OCR PDF reads the words in a scanned PDF and adds them to the file as hidden text. The pages look the same as before, but now you can search them with Ctrl+F, select a sentence and copy it.
A scan is only a picture of paper, so it has no text for your PDF reader to find. OCR (optical character recognition) fixes that by reading the shapes of the letters on each page.
It all happens in your browser tab. Scans often hold personal details, like tax forms, contracts and medical letters, and here they are never uploaded to a server.
How to OCR a PDF online
Who uses OCR PDF
Anyone with a stack of scans they need to search. These are the most common jobs.
Bookkeeping — find figures on receipts
Scanned receipts and invoices hide amounts and dates inside the image. After OCR, you can search for a vendor or copy a total into your accounts.
Clinics — search referral letters
Referral letters and older patient records often arrive as scans. Reading them on the practice's own computer keeps health information off outside servers.
Archives and family history
Old letters, ledgers and newsletters become searchable, so you can find a name or a date across hundreds of pages.
Students and researchers
Scanned book chapters and older journal articles become searchable, and you can copy a quote instead of retyping it.
Home paperwork
Tax forms, warranties and insurance letters you scanned at home become easy to find by searching for a word.
Why make scanned PDFs searchable?
A searchable PDF works like any document you typed yourself.
- Find any word with Ctrl+F instead of scrolling page by page.
- Copy and paste from a scan instead of retyping it.
- Your computer's search, and document systems, can find the file by the words inside it.
- The scan stays as it was, so it's still a true copy of the paper.
- You can take the text as a .txt file too, ready for a word processor or a translation tool.
- Nothing is uploaded, so it's safe for scans with personal details like ID numbers and bank statements.
How OCR PDF works
OCR PDF uses Tesseract, a free and open-source OCR engine, running inside your browser tab. The engine and each language's file download from our server the first time you use them. Your browser keeps them for next time.
Each page is drawn as an image at 150 or 300 DPI. Tesseract finds every word and where it sits on the page, then the words are added as invisible text, stretched to cover each word on the scan. That's why selecting text highlights the right words.
Nothing else on the page is changed. Your PDF itself never leaves your device: only the engine and language files travel, and only toward you.
OCR PDF settings at a glance
Everything you can choose before reading, and what happens with files that need care.
| Setting | Options | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Languages | 30 languages, up to 3 at once | Starts on the language you're browsing in, and remembers your last choice. |
| Quality | Accurate (300 DPI) or Fast (150 DPI) | Very large pages are scaled down a little, so phones don't run out of memory. |
| Download | Searchable PDF or text file (.txt) | The other format is one click away when reading ends. |
| Pages | All pages, or a range like 1-3, 5 | Leave the field empty to read every page. |
| Pages with text | Skipped, or read with Read anyway | Skipping keeps search from finding each word twice. |
| Password-protected PDFs | Unlock first | The editor links you to Unlock PDF. |
| Signed PDFs | Can be read, with a warning | Adding text changes the file, so the signature will no longer be valid. |
| File size | Up to 100 MB, with no page limit | Your device does the work, so long files take longer. |
OCR PDF in your browser vs other ways
| Feature | LuraPDF | Upload-based OCR sites | Desktop PDF apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where your file goes | Stays on your device | Uploaded to the site's server | Stays on your computer |
| Languages | 30, up to 3 at once | Varies by site | Varies by app |
| Cost | Free, no page limit | Often free with page or file limits | Usually a paid license |
| Account | Not needed | Often needed for bigger files | Needed to buy and activate |
Tips for the best OCR results
A clear scan matters more than any setting. These tips help you get the most accurate text.
- Tip 1:
Pick the right language. The wrong one is the most common cause of garbled text.
- Tip 2:
Scan at 300 DPI or higher when you can. Small print needs the extra detail.
- Tip 3:
Turn sideways or upside-down pages the right way up with Rotate PDF, and trim dark scanner edges with Crop PDF, before you run OCR.
- Tip 4:
Choose Accurate for small, faint or crowded text. Choose Fast for clean pages when you want a quicker result.
- Tip 5:
If a page is marked Hard to read, check its text before you rely on it. Handwriting and decorative fonts often read poorly.
- Tip 6:
For a long file on a phone, read a page range at a time, or use a computer. OCR works the processor hard.
Related Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I OCR a PDF for free?
Drop the PDF into the box above, pick its language and press Make searchable. It's free, with no signup and no watermark, and the searchable PDF downloads when reading ends.
What is the best way to make a scanned PDF searchable?
Run OCR on it, which adds a hidden text layer over the scan. Here, pick the file's language, choose Accurate for small print, and download the searchable PDF. The pages look the same, but search and copy now work.
Which languages does OCR PDF support?
Thirty, and you can pick up to 3 at once: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Romanian, Hungarian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Turkish, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese and Korean.
Is it safe to OCR confidential documents here?
Yes. Your PDF is read inside your browser and is never uploaded. Only the OCR engine and language files are downloaded to you, never the other way.
Can I convert a scanned PDF to text?
Yes. Choose Text file under Download before you start, and you'll get a .txt file with each page under its own heading. You can also copy all the text in one click. For an editable document, PDF to Word reads scans too.
How accurate is the OCR?
It's very good on clean, straight, printed pages, and weaker on blurry scans, handwriting and decorative fonts. The right language and Accurate quality help most. Pages where OCR was unsure are marked Hard to read, so you know what to check.
Why were some pages skipped?
They already had text, so reading them again would put every word in the file twice. Choose Read anyway on a page to read it again.
Does OCR change how my PDF looks?
No. The pages keep their original images and content, and OCR only adds invisible text on top. The file gets a little bigger because of the added text.
Can I OCR a password-protected or signed PDF?
A password-protected PDF needs unlocking first, and the editor links you to Unlock PDF. A signed PDF can be read, but adding text changes the file, so the signature will no longer be valid.
Does OCR PDF work on a phone?
Yes. It's slower than on a computer, so for long files choose Fast quality or read a page range at a time. The first run also downloads the language files, which takes longer on mobile data.
Make your scanned PDFs searchable
Drop a scan into the box above and pick its language. When reading ends, you can search, select and copy its text, and your file never leaves your device.