PDF OCR
Free Local ProcessingFree online PDF OCR tool that renders each PDF page as an image and recognizes text with tesseract.js. Supports simplified/traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish and 10+ other languages, with page-range selection. Files never uploaded, all processing in your browser, protecting your privacy.
Drag files here, or
max each 100.0 MB
Options
How to Use
- 1 Select a PDF file
- 2 Choose recognition language (supports simplified/traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and 10+ languages)
- 3 Optional: fill in a page range (e.g. 1-3); blank = all pages
- 4 Click "PDF OCR" button, then view/copy the text once recognition completes
FAQ
Q: Why is it so slow?
OCR first renders each page into a high-resolution image, then recognizes text page by page. The computation is heavy. More pages and higher resolution mean slower. We recommend using "Page range" to OCR only needed pages, or close other memory-heavy tabs.
Q: What if accuracy is low?
Accuracy depends on PDF clarity. Clean scans with regular fonts produce good results; blurry, tilted, or handwritten content is harder. Pick the most suitable language (for pure English, "English only" may be more accurate).
Q: Are files uploaded to the server?
No. All rendering and recognition happen in your browser. Files never leave your device, fully protecting your privacy.
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- Adobe Acrobat OCR: Guide & Free Alternatives
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- How to Make a Scanned PDF Searchable
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- What Is OCR? How Optical Character Recognition Works and When You Need It
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- OCR Turns My Table Into a Mess: What Is Actually Possible
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- OCR for Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese: Language Settings That Matter
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- OCR for Multi-page PDFs: Page Ranges, Big Documents, and Time Expectations
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- OCR for Contracts and IDs: Why Local Processing Matters for Sensitive Files
Sensitive-document OCR: browser-local processing vs server upload, which files should never leave your device, and how to verify local claims.
- Editing a Scanned PDF: The Real Path From Pixels to Editable Text
You cannot edit pixels: OCR the scan, convert to Word, edit, and convert back — the complete honest workflow with proofreading.
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