How to make a scanned PDF searchable and copyable
Updated 2026-10-25
A scanned PDF is a stack of pictures. It looks like text, but Ctrl+F finds nothing and you cannot copy a sentence out of it. OCR (optical character recognition) reads the pictures and adds an invisible text layer behind them, so the page looks the same but becomes searchable.
Step by step
- 1Open OCR PDFSelect the scanned PDF. Recognition runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.
- 2Let it read the pagesRecognition takes a few seconds per page and longer on phones and long documents. Keep the tab open until it finishes.
- 3Download and testOpen the result and search for a word you can see on a page. Copy a paragraph to check accuracy.
Getting better results
OCR is only as good as the scan. Straight, evenly lit pages at a normal reading size work best. Handwriting, very small print, stamps over text and heavy shadows reduce accuracy. Recognition is currently tuned for English text.
If you only need the text, not a searchable PDF, PDF to Markdown gives you clean text you can paste into notes or an AI tool — run OCR first if the PDF is a scan.
Questions
- Will OCR change how my document looks?
- No. The page images stay the same; the recognised text sits invisibly behind them.
Your file stays on your device the whole time.
Also useful: PDF to Markdown · Compress PDF