Make a PDF searchable

Add a selectable, searchable text layer to a scanned PDF with OCR.

Drop a PDF here or click to browse

Works best on scanned or image-only PDFs

Loading PDF…

Reading PDF…

OCR options

Language

Render quality

200 DPI 300 DPI 400 DPI

Higher DPI improves accuracy on small text but is slower and uses more memory. 300 DPI suits most scans.

ⓘ The OCR engine (~a few MB) is downloaded from a CDN the first time you run it. Your document still never leaves your browser.

Running OCR…

Starting…

OCR is processor-intensive and runs locally, so larger documents take a while.

✓

Searchable PDF ready!

Pages processed

Original size

Searchable size

Your text layer is invisible and sits on top of the original scan, so the document looks identical but is now searchable and selectable.

Why OCR with PDF Compressor Web?

🔒

100% Private

Your files never leave your device. Recognition happens entirely in the browser. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

🔍

Searchable & Selectable

Adds an invisible text layer on top of your scan so you can search, select and copy the text.

🖼️

Keeps Your Original

The scanned page images stay untouched at full quality - we only add text behind them.

🛠️

Free & Open Source

No sign-ups, no limits, no ads. OCR as many files as you need, completely free.

How It Works

Drop your PDF

Drag and drop or click to select the scanned PDF you want to make searchable.

Run OCR

Pick a language and quality. Recognition runs locally in your browser.

Download

Your searchable PDF is ready to download instantly.