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OCR PDF Online Free — PrivaTools

TL;DR: Upload a scanned PDF and download a searchable, copy-pasteable PDF — or extract the text as .txt/JSON.

OCR PDF online for free — convert scanned documents into searchable, selectable text using Tesseract OCR. Supports 100+ languages. Output as searchable PDF or plain text.

Every PrivaTools tool — including OCR PDF — is genuinely free with no premium tier, no per-day limit, and no watermark on the output. Files are deleted from the server within seconds of your download completing. Source code: github.com/taiyeba-dg/privatools.

How to OCR PDF with PrivaTools

  1. Upload a scanned PDF or image-based PDF — Select a PDF containing scanned pages. Files up to 500 MB are supported.
  2. Select the document language — Choose the primary language (or multiple languages) so the OCR engine uses the correct dictionary for accuracy.
  3. Run OCR and download — Click Process. Tesseract extracts text and creates an invisible text layer, making the PDF fully searchable and copyable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What languages does the OCR support?

PrivaTools ships Tesseract's full language pack: 100+ languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Hebrew, Thai, and Vietnamese. Pick the language explicitly for best accuracy; auto-detect works but adds a few seconds.

Will OCR change how my scanned PDF looks?

No — the visual page stays pixel-identical to the input. OCR adds an invisible text layer behind the scan so the PDF becomes searchable and copy-pasteable, but the human-readable appearance is unchanged.

How accurate is the OCR?

Clean 300 DPI scans typically reach 95–99% accuracy on Latin scripts. Lower resolutions or skewed pages drop to 85–95%. For best results, run Deskew PDF before OCR if pages are tilted, and crank up the scanner DPI if you control the scan.

Can I get the extracted text as a separate file?

Yes. The default output is a searchable PDF, but you can also download just the extracted text as .txt (per page or combined) or as structured JSON with per-page text and bounding boxes.

Is it safe to OCR a confidential document?

Yes. The PDF enters an isolated Docker container, OCR runs in temp memory, the result is returned, and both the input and output are unlinked immediately. The text is never logged, never indexed, never sent to any third-party API. The whole pipeline is open source for verification.

Can I OCR a scanned PDF in a language I don't have the keyboard for?

Yes — the OCR doesn't need a keyboard, only that the language pack is installed (which it is for 100+ languages). After OCR, you can copy the text to a translator like DeepL or Google Translate.

Last reviewed 2026-05-14 by the PrivaTools maintainers. Source code on (MIT-licensed, self-hostable).

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