Make scanned PDFs searchable
Add a searchable text layer to a scanned PDF, privately in your browser.
How to OCR a PDF
- 1
Add your scan
Drop or select the scanned PDF you want to make searchable.
- 2
Run OCR
The text on each page is recognised on your device.
- 3
Download
Get a PDF that looks the same but whose text you can search and select.
Why OCR PDFs in your browser?
Scanned documents are often the most sensitive ones. Recognising their text on your device means you get a searchable PDF without ever uploading the original to an OCR service.
Frequently asked questions
Is my scan uploaded?+
No. The OCR engine, model and your file all stay in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or sent to any service.
Does it use a cloud OCR API?+
No. Recognition runs entirely on your device using a self-hosted engine, so your document is never sent anywhere.
How accurate is it?+
It works well on clear English scans. Very low-quality or skewed scans may produce some errors.
Why does it take a moment?+
OCR is heavy work and runs locally, so it takes a few seconds per page rather than offloading to a server.