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Matching Sox OCR
PART OF MATCHING SOX TOOLS
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FIX AN UNSEARCHABLE PDF

Make a scanned PDF searchable.

Some PDFs are really just pictures of pages. You can't search them, select a sentence or copy a quote. This job reads every page of that PDF and rebuilds it with an invisible text layer, so it looks the same but finally behaves like a normal document.

⌂ Recognized on your device

The PDF is opened, rendered and recognized inside your browser. It is never uploaded.

Open PDF → Searchable PDF → No uploads · No account

Free forever. No signup. No watermark. Files never leave your device.

How to do it, step by step

  1. Open the tool with the button above. The PDF → Searchable PDF mode is already selected.
  2. Choose the language of the document.
  3. Drop the PDF in, or tap Choose PDF.
  4. Press Recognize & rebuild PDF. Each page is rendered as a high-resolution image and recognized in turn.
  5. When it finishes, check the page count and average confidence.
  6. Press Download searchable PDF to save the new file.

Tips for better results

  • This is for image-only, scanned PDFs. If you can already select text in your PDF, you don't need it, and running it would flatten the existing text.
  • Long PDFs take a while because every page is recognized on your device. Keep the tab open until it finishes.
  • Pages that were scanned crooked or very faint will have lower confidence.
  • Keep your original file. The new PDF is a rebuilt copy, saved as searchable.pdf.

Open PDF → Searchable PDF →

Questions, answered

How do I know if my PDF is scanned?

Try to select a word or search for one. If nothing highlights, the pages are images and this tool can help.

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. The PDF is read and rebuilt entirely in your browser on your device.

Will the pages look the same?

Yes. Each page is redrawn as a high-resolution image of the original, with the recognized text hidden underneath.

What if my PDF already has text?

Then this isn't the tool you need. Rebuilding would turn the real text into an image with an OCR layer, which is usually worse.

Can I get plain text out instead?

This mode outputs a searchable PDF. Once it's searchable, you can select and copy text from it in any PDF viewer.

Other things Matching Sox OCR can do

Turn scans and photos into a searchable PDFTurn photos and scans of pages into one searchable PDF. Get the text out of an imageCopy the text out of any image. Turn a phone photo into editable textSnap a photo of a page, sign or whiteboard and turn it into editable text. Copy the text out of a screenshotCopy text out of a screenshot of an app, error message or web page. Read Spanish text from photos and scansFree Spanish OCR in your browser. Read French text from photos and scansFree French OCR in your browser. Read German text from photos and scansFree German OCR in your browser.
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Matching Sox OCR Independent app · Part of Matching Sox Tools
Recognized on your device. Text recognition is automated and may contain errors — not a substitute for proofreading.
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