How to use the Scanned PDF to Word (OCR) tool
- Choose a scanned PDF or photos of pages (JPG, PNG, WebP).
- Pick the language of the text.
- Choose editable text only, or text plus the original page image for reference.
- Click “Convert to Word” and download the DOCX file.
When to use this tool
Use it for PDFs that came from a scanner or a phone camera: signed contracts, old letters, printed reports, book pages. In such files, every page is a picture, so a normal PDF to Word converter can only put pictures into Word. OCR (optical character recognition) reads the letters and turns them into real text.
If your PDF was created from Word or another editor and you can select its text, use the regular PDF to Word converter instead: it keeps tables and layout better.
What the Word file contains
- Text grouped into paragraphs as on the page, with words split by hyphens at line ends joined again.
- Headings detected by their larger size and set in bold; centred titles stay centred.
- One Word page section per scanned page, separated by page breaks, in the size of the original page.
- Optionally, the original page image before its text, to compare and fix recognition errors quickly.
Tips for good results
Scans at 300 DPI and clear, straight photos give the best recognition. Choose the correct language: for documents that mix two languages, pick a combination such as English + Russian. Tables and multi-column layouts become plain paragraphs, so check them after conversion. Always proofread names, numbers and amounts.
Privacy
Recognition runs on your own device with an OCR engine compiled to WebAssembly. Your documents are never uploaded. This makes the tool safe for passports, contracts and medical or financial papers.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free?
Yes. No sign-up, no watermark and no page limit beyond 50 pages per PDF.
Why is the first run slow?
The OCR engine and language data (a few MB) are downloaded once and then cached by your browser. Each page then takes a few seconds, depending on your device.
Will the layout be exactly like the scan?
No. You get clean, editable text with paragraphs and headings. Tables, columns and pictures are not rebuilt. Use the option with page images if you need the original look for reference.
Which languages are supported?
English, Russian, German, French and Spanish, and combinations of English with each of the others.
Can I convert photos taken with my phone?
Yes. Select several photos at once: each becomes a page in the Word document, in the order you chose them.