OCR PDF

Crooked and sideways scans are put right first. Searchable keeps each page exactly as scanned; editable rebuilds it as real text on clean paper.

Choose a file to get started. It is processed on your device and never uploaded.

What you can do

  • Searchable PDF: the scan looks exactly the same, with text you can search, select and copy
  • Editable PDF: each page rebuilt as real text in a matching font, size, weight and colour
  • Pictures, logos, rules, stamps and signatures are kept; scanned paper is cleaned to white
  • Crooked, sideways and upside-down scans are straightened and turned before reading
  • Pages that already have text are left untouched
  • English, Romanian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Polish, alone or mixed

How to use OCR PDF

  1. Choose one or more scanned PDFs.
  2. Pick Searchable or Editable, and the document’s language.
  3. Press Recognise text, check what changed and download.

Related tools

PDF to PowerPoint

Turn PDF pages into slides with whole-paragraph text boxes, real lists and native tables.

PDF to Word

Turn a PDF into a Word document that edits like one written in Word.

PDF to Excel

Turn the tables in a PDF into a clean Excel workbook with real numbers and dates.

PowerPoint to Word

Export slide text, tables, pictures and notes to an editable Word document.

Text to PDF

Turn .txt notes and Markdown files into a clean, paginated PDF.

More free PDF tools

Edit PDF

Edit PDFs like a Word document: text, tables, images, links and comments.

PDF Viewer

Open, read, search and print PDF files right in your browser.

Sign PDF

Draw, type or upload your signature and place it anywhere.

Alternate & mix

Interleave the pages of two PDFs, such as front and back scans.

Split PDF

Break a PDF into separate files, by page or by range.

Rotate pages

Turn pages a quarter, half or three-quarter turn.

Flatten PDF

Bake form fields and annotations into the page.

Fix PDF layout

One click to turn pages upright, straighten scans, drop blank pages and even out sizes and margins.

Redesign PDF

Give any PDF a clean, professional design in one click.

Change page size

Resize pages to A4, Letter or Legal, scaling the content to fit.

Redact PDF

Black out sensitive passages — and remove them for good.

Compress PDF

Make the file smaller, with the trade-off you choose.

Repair PDF

Fix a damaged or corrupt PDF that will not open properly.

OCR PDF: questions and answers

How do I make a scanned PDF editable?

Open OCR PDF, choose Editable PDF and press Recognise text. Every scanned page is rebuilt as real text you can change in the editor or any PDF app, with the original pictures and signatures kept in place. To change a single scanned page, open it in the editor, choose Edit text and press Recognise text on this page.

What is the difference between a searchable and an editable PDF?

A searchable PDF keeps the scanned image exactly as it is and adds an invisible layer of text behind it, so you can search, select and copy. An editable PDF replaces the scanned lettering with real text, so the words themselves can be changed.

Is OCR accurate?

On clean scans at 200–300 dpi, typically well above 95% of words. Each result reports the average confidence and names pages that were hard to read, so you know what to proofread.

Are my files uploaded?

No. pdf-m8 processes documents in your browser, on your own device. Files are never sent to a server, so confidential documents stay private.