How to apply OCR software to a PDF online
Follow these easy steps to apply optical character recognition (OCR) to your 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 recognise text in so you can search, copy and highlight the text.
- After the file uploads, Acrobat will use OCR technology to recognise the text in it.
- Sign in to download the searchable PDF or get a link to share it.
Try our free PDF OCR tool
High-quality character recognition
The Adobe Acrobat online OCR tool scans your document to apply text recognition, creating easily searchable PDFs. You can also copy and highlight the recognised 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 recognised 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 online OCR 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? We have answers.
The Acrobat OCR online tool lets you recognise 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 recognised 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.
Use Acrobat tools for free
- Sign in to try 25+ tools, like convert or compress
- Add comments, fill in forms and sign PDFs for free
- Store your files online to access from any device
