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PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text

Extract text from scanned PDFs with OCR — pages are rendered and recognized in your browser.

Best for: Making an old contract searchable, pulling quotes from a scanned book chapter, digitizing receipts and records, or recovering text from a PDF whose original file is lost.

Complete guide

Input

How it's calculated & sources

Method: each PDF page is rendered to an image by pdf.js, then recognized by Tesseract OCR — both running in your browser via WebAssembly. Your PDF is never uploaded; the engines load from a CDN on first use.

Free & no sign-up · runs entirely in your browser. Results are estimates for general information, not professional advice — verify important decisions with a qualified expert. Last reviewed June 2026.

Frequently asked questions

When do I need OCR instead of PDF-to-Text?+

Use PDF-to-Text for digital PDFs (text copied straight from the file). Scanned documents and photos of documents have no text layer — OCR reads the pixels.

How accurate is it?+

Clean 300-DPI scans of printed text are typically 95%+ accurate. Handwriting, skewed pages and low-resolution scans reduce accuracy.

Is there a page limit?+

25 pages per run to keep your browser responsive — split larger PDFs with our PDF Splitter first.

Continue your journey

Where people usually head next.

📝
PDF to Word
Extract a PDF's text into an editable Word (.docx) document — in your browser.
📊
PDF to Excel
Extract a PDF's text into an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) — in your browser.
📊
Excel to PDF
Convert Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) to PDF in your browser — values as a table.
✂️
Crop PDF
Trim the margins of every PDF page by a percentage — lossless, in your browser.

Complete guide

Quick answers

Short, sourced answers to the questions people (and AI assistants) ask most.

What is PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text?
PDF OCR reads scanned or photographed PDFs — documents that are really just pictures of text — and recognizes the words so you can copy, search and reuse them.
Why does PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text matter?
Machine-readable text extracted from the page images. Accuracy on clean 300-DPI office scans is typically excellent; handwriting, decorative fonts, skewed photos and low-resolution scans reduce it.
How is PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text calculated?
Each page is rendered to an image, and the Tesseract OCR engine (running as WebAssembly in your browser) detects lines, words and characters, reporting recognized text page by page.
What are common pdf ocr — scanned pdf to text mistakes?
Running OCR on a PDF that already has a text layer — try selecting text first; born-digital PDFs need PDF to Text, not OCR.
When should you use the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text?
Making an old contract searchable, pulling quotes from a scanned book chapter, digitizing receipts and records, or recovering text from a PDF whose original file is lost.

What is the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text?

PDF OCR reads scanned or photographed PDFs — documents that are really just pictures of text — and recognizes the words so you can copy, search and reuse them.

How the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text works

Each page is rendered to an image, and the Tesseract OCR engine (running as WebAssembly in your browser) detects lines, words and characters, reporting recognized text page by page.

  1. Choose a scanned PDF (clear, straight scans recognize best).
  2. Start OCR and let it work through the pages — progress shows per page.
  3. Review the recognized text, then copy it or download it as a text file.

Key terms

OCR:
Optical Character Recognition — detecting the shapes of printed characters in an image and converting them to real text.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Running OCR on a PDF that already has a text layer — try selecting text first; born-digital PDFs need PDF to Text, not OCR.
  • Expecting handwriting recognition — OCR engines are built for printed text.
  • Trusting numbers blindly: OCR can confuse 0/O and 1/l; verify totals in financial documents.

Keywords: pdf ocr, scanned pdf to text, ocr pdf online, extract text from scanned pdf, searchable pdf.

Your document is processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded.

Reviewed by the Free Tools Galaxy editorial team · Updated June 2026 · Calculated privately in your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Is the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text free to use?+

Yes. Every tool on Free Tools Galaxy is 100% free, runs in your browser and requires no signup.

How accurate is the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text?+

PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text uses the standard pdf ocr — scanned pdf to text formula in double-precision arithmetic, so the same inputs always produce the same result and you can verify any figure by hand. It is an educational estimate — real-world outcomes depend on your actual rates, rules and assumptions.

Do you store my inputs?+

No. The PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved to a server.

Can I use the PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text on mobile?+

Yes — the interface is fully responsive and works on phones, tablets and desktops.

What are common mistakes to avoid?+

The most frequent mistake is mixing units. Double-check your inputs use a single, consistent unit before clicking Calculate.

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Related searches: image to text (ocr), pdf to text, pdf to word

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Likely next step

📝PDF to WordTop match📊PDF to ExcelExtract a PDF's text into an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) — in your browser.📊Excel to PDFConvert Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) to PDF in your browser — values as a table.✂️Crop PDFTrim the margins of every PDF page by a percentage — lossless, in your browser.🔧Repair PDFRe-save a PDF to fix minor corruption and files that will not open.📝Word to PDFConvert Word (.docx) documents to PDF in your browser — text and basic formatting.

Smart recommendations

Next best tool

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Title: I built/used this free pdf ocr — scanned pdf to text — instant, no signup

Body: Extract text from scanned PDFs with OCR — pages are rendered and recognized in your browser. Try it: https://freetoolsgalaxy.com/tools/pdf-ocr
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PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text on Free Tools Galaxy — Extract text from scanned PDFs with OCR — pages are rendered and recognized in your browser. https://freetoolsgalaxy.com/tools/pdf-ocr
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# PDF OCR — Scanned PDF to Text — the free tool I keep coming back to

Extract text from scanned PDFs with OCR — pages are rendered and recognized in your browser.

Try it: https://freetoolsgalaxy.com/tools/pdf-ocr
Quora answer
The fastest way is to use a free in-browser pdf ocr — scanned pdf to text: https://freetoolsgalaxy.com/tools/pdf-ocr. Extract text from scanned PDFs with OCR — pages are rendered and recognized in your browser.

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I built a free simple interest calculator that works instantly in the browser — no signup, no ads in your face
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Hey r/[subreddit],

I kept needing a quick simple interest calculator and most options online were slow or behind paywalls, so I built one that:

• Runs 100% in your browser (your data never leaves your device)
• No signup, no email wall, no popups
• Loads in under a second on mobile

It covers the standard simple interest use cases (simple, interest, principal, loan) and links out to the formula + worked examples if you want to learn the math.

Link: https://freetoolsgalaxy.com/tools/simple-interest-calculator

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