Make a scanned PDF searchable

Choose a PDF or drop it here

Processed on this device. Nothing is uploaded.

Short answer

Open a scanned PDF and the text on each page is recognised on your own device, then written invisibly over the picture. The page looks identical, but Ctrl+F now finds words, you can select and copy them, and search tools can index the file. Nothing is uploaded, which matters because the documents people scan are usually the ones they would least like to send to a stranger’s server.

Next step

Extract the text from a PDF See what is hidden inside a PDF Redact a PDF

Doing more than one thing?

The full editor puts every operation in one workspace with undo, so you are not exporting and re-opening between each step. Same engine, same privacy, still nothing uploaded.

Open the full editor Browse all tools

Why this one does not upload your file

Almost every free make a scanned pdf searchable tool works by sending your document to a server, doing the work there, and sending a result back. That is a cost decision rather than a privacy one — server time costs money, which is why those tools meter you, ask for an account, or cap your file size.

This one runs the same work in your browser using JavaScript, so your file never travels anywhere. There is no upload step, no queue, no account, and no page limit — and the page keeps working if you disconnect from the internet partway through.

You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network tab and watch while you work, or read how it works.

What happens to your file

It is read from your disk into this tab's memory
Every change happens on your own processor
The result is built in memory, reopened and checked before you are offered it
Your original file is never modified
Closing the tab releases everything — nothing is stored

Questions

Straight answers

Does the page change?

No. The scan is left exactly as it is and the recognised text is drawn over it at zero opacity. You see the original; your computer sees text as well. That is how searchable scans are normally built.

How accurate is it?

Good on a clear scan of printed text, poor on handwriting, and unreliable on a phone photo taken at an angle or in bad light. Because the picture is untouched, a poor result costs you nothing but the time — the document still reads exactly as before.

Why only the first pages of a long document?

Recognition runs on your own processor, and a few hundred pages would appear to freeze the tab for several minutes. It stops after twenty pages so the wait stays reasonable and you can see it finish. Split the file first if you need more.

Is my scan uploaded anywhere?

No. The recognition engine is downloaded to your browser and the document never leaves it. Nothing is sent to a server at any point.

More tools

Everything else, also free

Merge PDFAdd two or more PDFs, drag them into the order you want, and press Merge. Split PDFOpen your PDF, choose how many pages each output file should contain, and press Split. Compress PDFOpen your PDF and choose a quality level. Rotate PDFOpen your PDF, turn every page at once or click individual pages to rotate just those, then download. Delete pagesOpen your PDF, click the pages you want gone, and download the result. Extract pagesOpen your PDF and either type a range such as 3-7, or click the pages you want in the grid. PDF to JPGOpen your PDF, pick a resolution and image format, and every page is rendered to an image in your browser. Images to PDFAdd your images, drag them into order, choose a page size, and they become a single PDF built in your browser.

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