CoolPDFCoolPDF
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OCR PDF

Add a real text layer to scanned PDFs so you can search, select and copy the text. Recognition runs entirely on your own device — the document never leaves it.

  • No uploads
  • Runs locally
  • No sign-up

File data uploaded this session: 0 B

Your files are processed locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

How to OCR a PDF

  1. Add the scanned PDF by dragging it onto the upload area, or click to browse (up to 100 MB).
  2. Pick a recognition quality: Standard (200 DPI) suits most documents; Fine print (300 DPI) helps with small text; Fast (150 DPI) is quickest.
  3. Click "OCR PDF". The first run downloads the recognition engine once; afterwards it starts instantly.
  4. Download the searchable PDF — same pages, now with a real text layer — or grab just the extracted text.

OCR confidential scans without sending them anywhere

Scanned documents are often the sensitive kind: signed contracts, medical records, ID copies, old letters. Most online OCR services make you upload them first. CoolPDF runs the recognition engine — Tesseract, compiled to WebAssembly — inside your browser tab instead. The document is read and processed on your own machine, and no byte of it crosses the network. You can verify that in your browser’s network panel while it works. Because there is no server doing the work, there is also no page quota and no daily cap: your device sets the only limit.

Frequently asked questions

Which languages can it recognize?

English (Latin alphabet) for now. Other languages need their own trained data files, which are not included in this build — multi-language support is planned. Accents and common European punctuation are handled fine.

Will it work on a PDF that already has text?

It is meant for scans and images without a text layer. If your PDF already has selectable text, you do not need OCR — the PDF to Markdown tool can extract the text directly.

Why does the first run take longer?

The first recognition downloads the OCR engine and language data (about 7 MB). Both are cached on your device afterwards, so later runs start instantly — even offline.

Are my documents uploaded for OCR?

No. Recognition runs entirely in your browser on your own processor. Nothing is sent to any server — the uploaded-data counter above stays at zero while it works.

Are there any usage limits?

No. Every tool is free with unlimited use — no daily caps, no quotas, and no sign-up. Your own device does the work, so there is no server cost to pass on. To keep your browser stable, each tool has a generous per-file size limit (50–150 MB depending on the tool), far more than everyday documents need.

CoolPDF is a free, browser-based PDF toolkit. Unlike traditional online PDF tools, CoolPDF processes all files locally on the user’s device using WebAssembly — files are never uploaded to any server. The tools require no account, no email, and no sign-up, and are completely free with no usage limits. This makes CoolPDF suitable for confidential documents such as contracts, medical records, and financial statements.