Text recognition (OCR) – make scans searchable
Photos and scans become searchable PDFs. PDFMy recognises the text in over 40 languages and also reads the sender, amount and deadline from letters.
Scan & recognise text – open in PDFMy now →
How it works
- Click ‘Scan & recognise text’ – or scan with your phone or scanner.
- PDFMy straightens the pages and recognises the text automatically.
- Save as a searchable PDF or file it directly.
Why PDFMy?
- Free – no registration, no subscription, no page limit.
- No upload – your files stay on your device (privacy-friendly under the GDPR).
- Everywhere – in the browser or as an app, on Windows, on the Mac and on your phone.
- From Paderborn – developed by Mentor GmbH (Mentor Group).
Frequently asked questions
Which languages does PDFMy recognise?
Over 40 languages – including German, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The language is detected automatically.
Does text recognition run in the cloud?
No. Text recognition runs on your device; no document goes to an online service.
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- Split PDF
- Rotate and delete PDF pages
- PDF to JPG
- Compare PDF
- Check PDF before sending
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- Fill in PDF form
- Page numbers and watermarks
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- PDF printer
- Create booklet
- Multiple pages per sheet
- Print as poster
- Invert colours
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- All pages to A4
- In greyscale
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- All tools
- Help
Found a bug or have an idea? Report a bug – by email from your mail program, without documents.