OCR PDF

Make a scanned PDF searchable without uploading it.

Scanned or image-based PDFs become searchable text in your browser. KeptPDF runs Tesseract OCR on your device, with no account and no cloud processing of your documents. Now tuned for phone photos and skewed scans, with automatic straightening before it reads.

Run OCR free How it works

Scanned documents are often the most sensitive ones.

Old contracts, medical records, court filings, tax documents: the documents you're most likely to scan are the ones you'd least want processed by a stranger's server. Most OCR tools upload your scanned file and run recognition on their infrastructure.

The difference in one sentence

A scanned document is often an old record or legal filing, exactly the kind of file that shouldn't be uploaded to a third-party OCR server.

KeptPDF runs Tesseract, the world's most widely used open-source OCR engine, directly in your browser using WebAssembly. Your scanned pages are recognized on your device. Your document is never uploaded anywhere. Check the Network tab while running OCR. Your file never appears in an outbound request (the OCR engine downloads once from our site on first use, then runs locally).

How to OCR a PDF

Three steps, on your device. No account needed, and nothing gets uploaded.

1. Open your scanned PDF

Drop the file onto the page. It loads in your browser without being sent anywhere.

2. Run OCR

Click to start recognition. Tesseract processes each page on your device, detecting and layering text over the scanned image.

3. Download the searchable PDF

The result is a standard PDF with a transparent text layer. You can now select text, search it, and copy from it in any viewer.

On-device OCR. No cloud, no upload.

Tesseract in your browser

KeptPDF runs Tesseract OCR via WebAssembly in your browser tab. The recognition engine is local. None of your document data travels to a server.

Text-over-image output

The scanned image is preserved exactly as-is. OCR adds a transparent text layer on top. The PDF looks identical but is now searchable and copy-able.

Multi-language support

Tesseract recognizes over 100 languages. Select the primary language of your document for better accuracy on non-English text.

Free, no account

OCR PDFs free with no sign-up, no daily limit. Pro ($29/month) supports larger files (hundreds of MB practical limit, browser memory dependent).

Common next steps after OCR

Redact text it found Extract tables to Excel

Questions, answered.

How do I make a scanned PDF searchable?

Open KeptPDF's OCR tool, drop in your scanned PDF, select the document language if needed, and click Run OCR. KeptPDF processes the pages in your browser and adds a searchable text layer. Download the result. Free with no account, no daily limit.

What OCR engine does KeptPDF use?

Tesseract, the world's most widely used open-source OCR engine, originally developed by HP and now maintained by Google. It runs in your browser via WebAssembly. Your document never leaves your device.

Will OCR change how the PDF looks?

No. The scanned images are preserved exactly as they appear. OCR adds an invisible text layer on top, so the PDF looks identical but is now searchable and copy-able.

How accurate is the OCR?

Accuracy depends on the quality of the scan. Clean, straight, high-resolution scans of printed text achieve very high accuracy. Handwriting, very small print, or poor-quality scans reduce it. KeptPDF also auto-deskews pages before recognition to improve results on slightly rotated scans.

Is my document uploaded to a server?

No. The Tesseract engine runs inside your browser tab using WebAssembly. Your document data never leaves your device.

Is it free?

Yes. Free with no account, no daily limit. Pro ($29/month) supports larger files (hundreds of MB practical limit, browser memory dependent).

OCR a PDF. Free, in your browser.

Open OCR PDF