Searchable PDF

Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable one.

100% private Runs locally No sign-up

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Heavy libraries load on demand so the page shell stays fast.

About Searchable PDF

Searchable PDF runs OCR locally and embeds a text layer under scanned pages so you can find phrases in Preview, Acrobat, or Windows search — without sending scans of IDs or medical forms to a cloud OCR API.

How to use Searchable PDF

1Drop a scanned or image-only PDF.
2Start OCR — Tesseract runs in your browser.
3Wait for the text layer to embed.
4Download the searchable PDF and verify with Find (Ctrl/Cmd+F).

Frequently asked questions

Difference from PDF OCR?

PDF OCR emphasizes exporting extracted text. Searchable PDF keeps the visual pages and adds a hidden text layer for search/copy.

Handwriting support?

Printed text works best. For notes, try Handwriting OCR; results vary by penmanship.

Multiple languages?

Accuracy depends on trained language data available in the tool. Match the language of the scan when prompted.

Will file size grow?

Slightly — the text layer adds bytes. Compress PDF afterward if email limits are tight.

Is OCR private?

Yes on Toolncy: recognition runs on-device. That is the point versus upload-based OCR sites.

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About Searchable PDF

How to use Searchable PDF

1Drop a scanned or image-only PDF.

2Start OCR — Tesseract runs in your browser.

3Wait for the text layer to embed.

4Download the searchable PDF and verify with Find (Ctrl/Cmd+F).

Frequently asked questions

Difference from PDF OCR?

PDF OCR emphasizes exporting extracted text. Searchable PDF keeps the visual pages and adds a hidden text layer for search/copy.

Handwriting support?

Printed text works best. For notes, try Handwriting OCR; results vary by penmanship.

Multiple languages?

Accuracy depends on trained language data available in the tool. Match the language of the scan when prompted.

Will file size grow?

Slightly — the text layer adds bytes. Compress PDF afterward if email limits are tight.

Is OCR private?

Yes on Toolncy: recognition runs on-device. That is the point versus upload-based OCR sites.