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Tools / PDF to text & OCR

Extract text from PDFs, including scans.

Read a PDF’s selectable text directly, or run local OCR when pages are scans or screenshots. Your document stays in your browser.

PDF text extractor

Direct extraction is fast. Scanned pages need OCR and may take longer.

    Choose a PDF to begin.

    OCR is useful for scanned documents, but recognition can contain mistakes. Always check names, numbers and important details against the original.

    Extracted text will appear here.
    Related tools

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    Text & OCR Engine

    Extract Text from PDF & OCR Scanned Documents

    Extract clean, formatted text from PDF files directly in your browser. Extract digital text streams instantly or run client-side Tesseract.js OCR on scanned paper documents with zero cloud transmission.

    Step-by-Step Instructions

    01

    Load PDF File

    Upload any native digital PDF or scanned image document.

    02

    Select Extraction Mode

    Choose "Native Text Extraction" for instant digital text or "OCR Engine" for scanned images.

    03

    Glyph & Character Parsing

    The engine decodes ToUnicode CMap font tables or runs WebAssembly neural OCR.

    04

    Copy or Download Text

    Copy plain text to clipboard or download as a .txt markdown file with clean paragraph breaks.

    🔒 Privacy & Data Security Guarantee

    100% Private Document Analysis: Confidential agreements, medical records, and financial statements stay entirely on your device.

    CMap Unicode Decoding vs. Tesseract WebAssembly OCR

    For native PDFs, text extraction involves reading the /Contents stream operators (e.g. Tj and TJ text show operators) and mapping internal glyph indices to standard UTF-8 characters via the font's embedded ToUnicode CMap table.

    For scanned documents without a text layer, our tool spins up a client-side Tesseract.js WebAssembly worker. The neural network detects text lines, segments characters, and predicts glyph classifications directly on your GPU/CPU without sending document imagery across the internet.

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    Extraction Methods Compared

    FeatureNative Text ExtractionWebAssembly OCR Mode
    Document TypeDigital PDFs with selectable textScanned documents, photos, faxed forms
    Processing SpeedInstantaneous (<100ms for 50 pages)1–3 seconds per page (Neural processing)
    Accuracy100% exact character representation95–99% depending on scan clarity
    Resource UsageExtremely lightweightUtilizes multi-threaded browser Web Workers

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How do I extract text from a scanned PDF without typing?
    To extract text from a scanned PDF without typing, run an in-browser Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine like Tesseract.js. The OCR model analyzes character glyphs and pixel contrast across scanned document images, converting non-selectable bitmaps into editable UTF-8 plain text you can copy or export.
    How to copy unselectable text from a locked or scanned PDF?
    When text in a PDF is flattened into an image or protected by permissions, select "OCR Engine" mode. The browser decodes each page canvas, identifies alphanumeric text patterns, and generates an editable text transcript while bypassing local copy-paste clipboard restrictions.
    Why does copied text from some PDFs turn into random symbols or gibberish?
    PDFs often use custom subsetted font encodings that lack standard ToUnicode CMap lookup tables. When you copy text, the operating system copies raw character indices instead of ASCII letters. Running client-side OCR bypasses corrupted font tables by reading the visual text shapes directly.
    Can I extract text from multi-page PDFs for free without limits?
    Yes. Client-side tools execute directly using your computer or phone CPU/RAM. Because files are not sent to costly cloud OCR servers, there are no artificial 3-page caps, daily usage restrictions, or paywalls.
    Is it safe to run OCR on confidential financial or legal PDFs?
    Yes. With client-side OCR, neural character recognition occurs entirely in local browser memory. No text, scanned invoices, or legal contracts are transmitted over the internet or logged on external servers.