Skip to main content

OCR PDF

Beta

Make scanned PDFs searchable with optical character recognition. Extract text from images and scanned documents. Supports multiple languages and produces highly accurate results.

100% Private — files never leave your browser
Your files never leave your browserVerify →
1
Select Files
2
Configure
3
Download
0/3 free today

Drop a scanned PDF for text recognition

or click to browse from your device

Select Files

Your files stay on your device — 100% private

PDF, APPLICATION/PDF

How it works

Upload your file

Drag & drop or click to select. Files stay on your device — nothing is uploaded.

Adjust settings

Configure options and preview before processing.

Download result

Get your file instantly. No signup, no email required.

Frequently Asked Questions

We support 10+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Hindi.
Accuracy depends on image quality. Clear, high-resolution scans typically achieve 90-99% accuracy. Low-quality or handwritten text may have lower accuracy.
OCR is CPU-intensive and runs entirely in your browser. A single page takes 5-15 seconds. Multi-page documents take proportionally longer.

Related Tools

PDF Metadata

View and edit PDF document metadata and properties

PDF Info

Analyze PDF structure, fonts, images, and page details

Compare PDF

Compare two PDF documents side by side to find differences

Extract Images

Extract all embedded images from a PDF document

Need more PDF tools?

Explore our full suite of 30+ free PDF tools — all running securely in your browser.

Browse All Tools

What Is PDF OCR?

PDF OCR (Optical Character Recognition) scans the images in a PDF document and recognizes the text within them, creating a searchable text layer over the original pages. This transforms scanned documents — which are essentially images — into fully searchable and selectable PDFs.

Scanned papers, photographed documents, and image-based PDFs are common in offices, archives, and legal departments. Without OCR, the text in these documents can't be searched, copied, or indexed. Running OCR unlocks this trapped content, making documents genuinely useful in digital workflows.

One23PDF's OCR engine runs entirely in your browser using advanced WebAssembly technology. Upload scanned PDFs and receive searchable documents in minutes — no cloud processing, no data leaving your device, and no restrictions on file size or page count. It's free to use and requires no account.

Benefits of PDF OCR with One23PDF

Searchable Documents

After OCR, you can search for any word or phrase within your scanned documents using any PDF viewer's built-in search function. Find information instantly.

Copy & Paste Text

Select and copy text from scanned documents just like you would from a native digital PDF. No more retyping content from paper documents.

Improved Accessibility

OCR-processed PDFs work with screen readers and assistive technology, making previously inaccessible scanned documents available to visually impaired users.

Private Processing

One23PDF runs OCR entirely in your browser. Scanned contracts, medical records, and financial documents are never uploaded to external servers.

How to OCR PDFs with One23PDF

  1. 1

    Upload Your Scanned PDF

    Drag and drop your scanned PDF or image-based PDF into the OCR tool. One23PDF accepts documents of any size and page count.

  2. 2

    Run OCR

    Select the document language for optimal recognition accuracy and click process. The OCR engine analyzes each page and creates a searchable text layer.

  3. 3

    Download Searchable PDF

    Download your OCR-processed PDF with a full text layer. The visual appearance is unchanged, but the document is now fully searchable and selectable.

Common Use Cases for PDF OCR

  • Digitizing paper archives into searchable electronic documents
  • Making scanned contracts and legal documents searchable for discovery
  • Processing scanned receipts and invoices for accounting software
  • Converting academic research papers from scanned libraries
  • Enabling full-text search across document management systems

One23PDF vs. Other OCR Tools

Adobe Acrobat Pro offers excellent OCR but costs $19.99/month and requires desktop installation. Cloud OCR services like ABBYY FineReader Online and Google Cloud Vision produce accurate results but upload your documents to remote servers — unacceptable for confidential content.

One23PDF brings powerful OCR to your browser with zero cost and zero uploads. Your scanned documents are processed locally using WebAssembly-based recognition technology, ensuring that sensitive content like medical records, legal documents, and financial statements never leave your device.

While One23PDF's browser-based OCR is optimized for common document types and languages, it delivers accuracy comparable to leading cloud services for standard printed text. For organizations that need searchable documents without compromising on privacy, One23PDF is the clear choice.