All tools

OCR a Scanned PDF

Convert scanned PDFs to searchable text. Extract text from scans.

Drop your file here

यह पेज हिन्दी में पढ़ें

Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable one. Text recognition reads each page and adds an invisible text layer, so you can search, select and copy the text.

How to use OCR PDF

  1. Choose or drop a scanned PDF.
  2. Select the document language.
  3. Choose the output: Searchable PDF + text file, or Text file only.
  4. Click Recognize text and download the results.

What it does

  • Languages: English, Hindi, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch.
  • The searchable PDF keeps the original pages and adds invisible text over the recognized words.
  • A plain text file with the text of every page, marked by page number.
  • Uses tesseract.js, which runs the text recognition in your browser.

Good to know

  • The searchable PDF layer supports Latin-script languages only. For Hindi, use the text file.
  • The first run downloads a language model of about 10 to 20 MB and needs an internet connection; recognition can take a few seconds per page.
  • Results depend on scan quality, and words recognized with low confidence are left out of the searchable layer.

Your files and privacy

Text recognition runs in your browser: tesseract.js and its language data are downloaded from a CDN, but your PDF is not uploaded to Docshar's server or anywhere else. If you are signed in, Docshar counts your operations (tool, number of files, sizes and page counts), never the file contents. See the Privacy Policy.

Questions

Is my PDF uploaded for OCR?

No. The tesseract.js code and the language data are downloaded from a CDN, but the pages are read on your device and the PDF stays there.

My scan is tilted. Should I fix it first?

Straight pages usually give better results. Run the Deskew tool first, then OCR the straightened file.

Can I edit the recognized text?

The OCR tool gives you a searchable PDF and a text file. To change words on a scanned page, use the PDF editor's Edit text tool, which also reads scanned text with OCR.