Make a scanned PDF searchable before you convert or submit it
If you cannot select text in a PDF, it is probably a scan. OCR recognises characters on each page and adds a searchable text layer while keeping the original look.
Ready to try it?
Open the OCR PDF tool and follow along.
When you need OCR
Phone photos of paperwork, flatbed scans and “print to image” exports often have no real text. Search fails, copy fails, and PDF to Word has nothing useful to extract.
OCR PDF runs in your browser with Tesseract. Supported languages are English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese — not every language. Pick the language that matches the document.
Step by step
A practical sequence for one scanned file:
- 1Open OCR PDF and drop the scanned PDF.
- 2Choose the document language (default English).
- 3Optionally ask for a plain .txt download as well as the searchable PDF.
- 4Run OCR, wait for recognition to finish, then download.
- 5If you need an editable Word file next, open PDF to Word on the searchable result.
Scan quality tips
Higher-resolution scans (around 300 DPI) usually recognise better than blurry phone photos. Straighten skewed pages with Crop PDF before OCR when edges are badly tilted.
Mixed languages on one page can confuse recognition. If a page is mostly one language, choose that language. Handwriting and decorative fonts remain unreliable.
What OCR does not claim
OCR accuracy depends on image quality. WordToPDFHub does not claim perfect recognition or universal language support.
The output keeps the page image and adds an invisible text layer for search and selection. It does not rebuild a fully reflowable Word layout by itself — use PDF to Word afterwards if you need editing.
Troubleshooting
If results look wrong:
- Gibberish text: rescan at higher resolution or improve lighting, then retry.
- Wrong language selected: run again with the matching language.
- Need editable paragraphs: after OCR, use PDF to Word (editable mode simplifies layout).
- File already has selectable text: you can skip OCR and go straight to convert or compress.
Privacy and security
OCR PDF runs in your browser. The file is loaded into memory on your device, processed locally, and offered as a download. WordToPDFHub does not receive the document.
Local processing still means you should follow your school or workplace rules about which tools you may use for confidential material.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my file uploaded to a server?
- No. This tool runs inside your browser, so your document stays on your device. (The separate AI tools are the exception: they send extracted text — not the file — to an AI provider, and say so before you start.)
- Is the tool really free?
- Yes. The tools are free to use with no watermarks and no sign-up. Each file can be up to 200 MB; very large documents also depend on your device's memory.
- Which languages are supported?
- English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Other languages are not available in this tool yet.
- Does OCR upload my scan?
- No. Recognition runs in your browser. Your PDF stays on the device.
- Will OCR fix a blurry photo?
- No. Poor images produce poor text. Improve the scan first, then run OCR.
Try OCR PDF now
Free, browser-based, no sign-up.
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