Extract text from a PDF or scan

Extract the text from a scanned PDF or an image using OCR (optical character recognition). Open your file and we read the words off each page so you can copy them or download a text file. It runs in your browser, so your document stays on your device.

How to extract text (ocr)

1. 1Open a scanned PDF or an image.
2. 2We read the text off every page.
3. 3Copy the text, or download it as a .txt file.
4. 4Paste it wherever you need editable text.

When to use this tool

• You have a scanned document or a photo of a page and need to copy its text.
• An old PDF has no selectable text, so you can't search or copy from it directly.
• You want to pull text out of a screenshot to paste into an email or document.
• You're digitizing an old contract or letter that only exists as a scan.
• You're transcribing an old typed letter or document into a modern, editable format.
• You need to search across a batch of scanned documents for a specific name or term.

Tips for a better result

• Use a clear, straight, well-lit scan or photo; skewed or blurry pages reduce accuracy.
• Higher-resolution scans generally read more accurately than low-resolution phone photos.
• Proofread the extracted text before reusing it, since OCR can misread similar-looking characters.
• If the PDF already has real, selectable text, you likely don't need OCR; just copy it directly.
• Break a long scanned document into smaller sections if accuracy drops on later pages.

Privacy: what happens to your file

This runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript, which runs OCR on images of the page. Your file is never uploaded to a server, and nothing is stored once you close the tab.

Extract text (OCR) is one of 34 free convert-category tools on fillable.ca. It pairs well with pdf to word, pdf to jpg and fill a pdf for a complete document workflow — see the full tools listfor everything else that’s free to use.