PDF OCR on Mac
macOS Live Text reads text on your screen — but the scanned PDF file itself stays unsearchable. Browser OCR fixes the file: an invisible text layer, Ctrl+F working, on any Mac. Free for everyone, within per-plan limits.
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Drag & drop your file here
or click to browse · Up to 15 MB
Select fileAccepted: PDF
Your files are processed temporarily and deleted automatically — there is no general cloud storage. File deletion.
How to ocr pdf
Simple steps — no software to install.
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Open PDF OCR in your browser
Any macOS.
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Upload and set the language
Accuracy follows the setting.
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Download the searchable PDF
Spotlight-indexable at last.
Why use our OCR PDF
Secure & private
Files are encrypted in transit and deleted automatically after processing.
Fast results
Optimized processing returns your file in seconds.
Free to start
Core tools are free with daily limits — no install required.
Works anywhere
Runs in your browser on any device, anywhere in the world.
Live Text vs a searchable file
Live Text recognizes what is displayed — useful, ephemeral. File-level OCR embeds the recognition INTO the PDF, so Spotlight indexes it, Preview searches it, and every future reader finds the text. Different jobs; this is the file one.
The Mac flow
Upload the scan in Safari or Chrome, pick the document language, download the searchable copy — output as searchable PDF, text or Word. OCR here is free for everyone, guests included.
- File-level searchability
- Spotlight/Preview friendly
- Free for everyone incl. guests
- Many languages
- Files auto-deleted