How to make a scanned PDF searchable
Updated
Contents
To make a scanned PDF searchable, run it through the OCR PDF tool. Optical character recognition reads the page images and adds a searchable, copyable text layer, so the file you download responds to search and lets you select and copy text like any other document.
This tool runs on a secure server rather than in your browser. Your file uploads over an encrypted connection, the job runs there, and the input is deleted when the job finishes. There is no account step anywhere in the flow — open the page, add the file, download the result.
Scans on paper are not the only input, either. A JPG or PNG — a photo of a contract, a screenshot of a form — goes in the same way and comes out as a searchable PDF or as plain text.
Step by step
- 1Open the OCR PDF tool.
- 2Add your scanned PDF, JPG, or PNG — it uploads over an encrypted connection to an isolated server.
- 3Pick the recognition languages that appear in your document — up to 4 per job. The page's live status shows which language packs our server reports as installed.
- 4Start the job. Our server runs optical character recognition, adds the text layer, and deletes the input when the job finishes.
- 5Download the result. The link stops working after 60 minutes, so save the result promptly.
- 6Open the downloaded PDF and try a search, or select and copy a passage. Both now work because the text layer is in place.
Pick the right recognition languages
Recognition is language-aware. The tool advertises 34 recognition languages, and you can select up to 4 of them for a single job — so a document that mixes languages can name up to 4 of the languages it contains in a single job.
The advertised list and the installed list are treated as two different claims, deliberately. Our server reports which language packs it actually has installed, and the page's live status reflects that report — what you can run is governed by what our server says is really there, not by a static list.
Crooked or sideways scans
A page fed through the scanner at a slight angle, or scanned sideways or upside down, is read badly or not at all. Two boxes in the tool fix that in the same run: tick “Straighten crooked pages” to level pages that went in at an angle, and “Turn pages upright” to turn pages that face the wrong way. Both work on PDF pages that have no text yet. A JPG or PNG is not checked by either box, but a phone photo is still read the way up your phone shows it.
What you get back
The tool's outputs are PDF and TXT. The searchable PDF keeps your scanned pages and adds a searchable, copyable text layer, so search, text selection, and copying all start working. The TXT output is the recognized text on its own — the right choice when you want the words and not the page images.
If the goal is text you can reuse elsewhere, the PDF to Text tool is the natural next step once a PDF has a text layer; and for documents built around tables, Extract Tables is the related tool aimed at exactly that.
Where your file goes
OCR PDF does its work on a secure server: your file uploads over an encrypted connection and is processed there. The input is deleted when the job finishes.
The result is held only briefly. The download link stops working after 60 minutes, and stored copies are erased by a daily storage rule. No account is involved at any point.
Limits worth knowing
Each file can be up to 100 MB. Accepted inputs are PDF, JPG, and PNG; outputs are PDF and TXT. A single job recognizes up to 4 languages, chosen from the 34 advertised — with our server's own live report deciding which packs are installed and ready. And because the download link stops working after 60 minutes, treat the result as something to save right away rather than a stored copy to come back for.
Common questions
Can I OCR a photo or screenshot instead of a PDF?
Yes. The tool accepts JPG and PNG alongside PDF, so a photographed page or a screenshot of a document works the same way — and comes back as a searchable PDF or as plain TXT.
What happens to my file after OCR runs?
The job runs on a secure server, and the input is deleted when the job finishes. The download link stops working after 60 minutes, and stored copies are erased by a daily storage rule.
Which languages can the OCR recognize?
34 languages are advertised, with up to 4 selectable per job. Our server reports the packs it actually has installed, and the page's live status reflects that report.
How large can my scanned PDF be?
Up to 100 MB per file, whether the input is a PDF, a JPG, or a PNG.
Do I need an account to make a scanned PDF searchable?
No account is needed. Open the OCR PDF tool, add your file, run the job, and download the searchable result.