Drag and drop a PDF file to recognize text in it using OCR technology, creating a searchable PDF.
Join 750M+ monthly users getting more done with Acrobat.
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How to apply online OCR software to a PDF
Click the Select a file button above, or drag and drop a PDF into the drop zone.
Select a PDF document that you want Acrobat to recognize text in so you can search, copy, and highlight the text.
After the file uploads, the tool will automatically apply Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to detect and convert text from images or scanned pages.
Sign in to download your newly searchable PDF or get a link to share it.
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Try our free PDF OCR tool
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High-quality character recognition
The Adobe Acrobat online OCR tool scans your document to apply free text recognition, creating easily searchable PDFs. You can also copy and highlight the recognized text.
Convert PDFs into searchable text
Use the OCR software to transform your static PDFs into more useful documents with searchable text. Then search for a word or phrase to find key information quickly.
Extract text for accessibility
OCR also lets you enhance the accessibility of your PDF files by making document content readable by screen readers thanks to the recognized text.
No extra software to install
You can use Adobe Acrobat tools in any browser, like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, so there’s no additional software you need to install to use the Acrobat OCR online reader.
Trusted file security and privacy
Adobe builds security measures into every PDF created with Acrobat. In addition, Acrobat uses encryption to keep your data secure when working with files online.
The best OCR reader online
Adobe invented the PDF file format, so you can trust our OCR technology and the high quality of our PDF tools.
Questions on PDF OCR? We have answers.
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that converts scanned images of text into machine-readable text that you can search, copy, edit, and highlight. The OCR meaning lies in its ability to recognize text in scanned documents, transforming static PDF content into text you can reuse.
The quickest way to find out if text in a PDF document is scanned is to try to select or highlight text in it. If you are unable to select or highlight text, then you are likely dealing with a scanned PDF file. You can make text in a scanned PDF searchable by applying OCR software using the Acrobat online tool. After uploading a PDF into the tool, the OCR engine processes your document to text recognition in the file, replicating the font style of the scanned or static text as closely as possible for text consistency throughout the PDF document. Once the OCR workflow is complete, sign in to download and open your new PDF. You’ll be able to search your PDF document for words or phrases or share it with others by email.
The Acrobat OCR online tool lets you recognize text in a PDF document for free. To make text editable, searchable, and selectable in other documents, including image file formats like PNG, JPG, and TIFF files, you can start a seven-day free trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro.
With Acrobat Pro, you can also edit recognized text in documents on your Microsoft Windows, Mac, or Linux. By using OCR technology to create editable text, you can reuse existing content instead of starting from scratch, saving time and money.
In addition, the Acrobat Pro free trial gives you access to advanced PDF features to keep your business workflows moving. Edit PDF text and images, collect e-signatures, create fillable forms, and convert to and from PDF, including converting text files (TXT) and Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word docs.
The Acrobat OCR PDF tool can be used on PDF documents in English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and more. See a full list of supported languages for our OCR tools online.
OCR tools support scanned paper documents, image-only PDFs, photos with text, and even handwritten notes.
Acrobat's advanced OCR tools retain original layout, fonts, and formatting, making the output look like the original document.
With a free 7-day trial of Acrobat Pro, you can edit recognized text, reuse content, and preserve formatting and layout in your PDF after OCR is applied.
OCR software can make text legible to be read aloud or converted to Braille, making scanned content accessible through adaptive technologies.
Poor image quality, unusual fonts, or handwritten text can reduce accuracy. Improving scan resolution or using clearer fonts helps.
Yes. OCR tools can process entire documents, including multi-page PDFs, and make all pages searchable.
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