Free online OCR

How to extract text from an image or PDF

1. Choose the language of the text in your document. This matters: the OCR engine reads letters much better when it knows the language.
2. Drop an image or a PDF on the box, click it to choose files, or press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac) to paste a screenshot.
3. The text appears below. Correct it if needed, then Copy text or Download .txt.

You can drop several files at once; their text is added one after the other with the file name above each part.

Images, scans and PDF files

Photos (JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC), scans (TIFF) and PDF files up to 10 MB each are supported. For a PDF, every page is read and the pages follow each other in the result. Scanned PDFs work too: they contain pictures of pages, which is exactly what OCR is for.

Choosing the right language

The tool supports more than 100 languages, including Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi and Thai scripts. If the result looks like random letters, the language is probably wrong: choose the language of the document and read the file again. For a document in two languages, choose the main one.

Tips for better results

• Use a sharp image: hold the phone straight above the page, in good light, without shadows.
• Crop the image to the text you need; borders, hands and backgrounds can add stray characters.
• Scans at 300 dpi give the best results. Very small text in a low-resolution screenshot is hard to read; zoom in before taking the screenshot.
• Printed text works best. Handwriting is read only if it is very neat, and the result needs checking.
• Text in columns and tables is read line by line, so check the order of the result.

Privacy

Files are sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to our server, read, and deleted right after the text has been extracted. No account is needed and nothing is kept.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free?

Yes, with no sign-up and no watermark. The only limit is 10 MB per file.

Can I convert a scanned PDF to text?

Yes. Drop the PDF and all pages are read. Copy the text into Word or Google Docs to edit it.

Why is my text full of strange characters?

Usually the language setting does not match the document, or the image is blurry. Change the language and try again with a sharper image.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Tap the box to take a photo or choose one from your gallery.