Make a PDF searchable

Add an invisible text layer so you can search and copy words. Recognition runs in your browser. This is the same OCR PDF job.

How to make a PDF searchable

  1. Choose the PDF that will not let you search or copy text.
  2. Pick the language that matches the document.
  3. Click Make searchable. Pages are read locally in your browser.
  4. Download the searchable PDF. The pages look the same; the text layer is invisible.

Features

Search and copy after

The original pages stay as they are. We add text you can find with Ctrl+F and copy into other apps.

Stays on your device

Tesseract runs in the browser. We do not upload the PDF to make it searchable.

Same OCR PDF job

This page is not a second product. It is OCR PDF with copy aimed at “searchable PDF.”

20 pages per file

OCR is limited to 20 pages so your browser stays responsive. Split a longer file first.

No watermark

The file does not get a MyPDF stamp. Free accounts get 5 jobs a day.

Already has text?

If you can already select words, you do not need this. Use PDF to TXT if you only want the text.

When a PDF is not searchable

People search “make PDF searchable” when Ctrl+F finds nothing. That usually means the file is a scan. MyPDF reads each page in your browser and writes the words back as invisible text on the same PDF.

The look of the page does not change. You gain search and copy. Handwriting and poor scans will miss words. This is the same Tesseract job as OCR PDF, not a separate engine.

The file never leaves your device for this job. There is no watermark. Free accounts get 5 jobs a day. OCR is capped at 20 pages per file.