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PPDF123

Extract Text From a Scanned PDF

OCR PDF to Text recognizes the text on scanned pages in the languages you choose and returns a plain .txt file. Pages that already contain text are copied as they are, and you can add a heading before each page.

Drag and drop files here, or click to choose

Accepts PDF · up to 500.0 MB per file · up to 20 files at once

You can also paste a file with Ctrl/Cmd+V, or from the clipboard menu.

Document languages
Pick up to 4. Fewer languages read faster and more accurately.

OCR PDF to Text reads the pages of a PDF and returns a plain .txt file. Pages that have no usable text layer are rendered and recognized with Tesseract in the languages you pick; pages that already contain text are copied from the file, so a mixed document is not recognized twice.

Pick up to four languages that appear on the pages, choose whether each page gets a heading line such as --- Page 3 ---, and optionally restrict the run to a page range. Force OCR recognizes every selected page instead of trusting the existing text layer.

Limits are stated up front: up to 50 pages that need OCR per request on this site, counted after skipping pages that already have text, and files up to 500 MB. Layout is not preserved: columns and tables come out as running text, so use the table tool when the structure matters.

Features

  • Plain .txt output; text layers are reused and scans are recognized
  • Up to four recognition languages at once
  • Optional heading before each page
  • Optional page range
  • No account or sign-in required

When to use this tool

  • Pulling the words out of a scanned letter, report or ID document
  • Feeding scanned pages to a search index or an AI workflow as text
  • Copying a few paragraphs from a photographed page without retyping

How do I extract text from a scanned PDF?

  1. Upload the scanned PDF
  2. Choose the document languages
  3. Decide whether to add a heading before each page, and enter a page range if needed
  4. Click Process and download the .txt file

Limits and edge cases

  • At most 50 pages that need OCR per request on this site; self-hosted servers can change it
  • Columns, tables and reading order are not reconstructed
  • Accuracy depends on scan quality and on picking the right languages
  • Upload limit on this website: 500 MB per file, sent in chunks above about 95 MB. A single direct API request body is capped at 100 MB.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my text look jumbled?
OCR reads pages line by line. Multi-column layouts, tables and sidebars can interleave. Use a page range for single-column pages, or the table tool for tabular data.
Is text that is already in the PDF copied or recognized again?
Copied. In Normal mode a page with a usable text layer is taken as it is; only image-only pages are recognized.
Can I get Markdown instead?
Yes. OCR PDF with the Markdown result returns a .md file that keeps headings and lists where it can detect them.
What happens with a very long scan?
A request that needs more than the page limit is rejected with a clear message. Enter a page range and run the document in parts.

Last updated:

Call this from code

Every tool on this site is a plain REST endpoint - no account or API key needed for anonymous use. Built for AI agents and developers as much as for browsers.

curl -X POST "https://pdf123.xyz/api/v1/misc/ocr-text" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "languages=eng" \
  -F "ocrType=Normal" \
  -F "pageMarkers=false" \
  -F "pageNumbers=all" \
  -o output.pdf

Also available as an MCP tool for agent clients that speak Model Context Protocol (JSON-RPC 2.0 over POST /mcp). Full API reference

Use it from an AI agent

Skill

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other AI agents can run OCR PDF to Text for you with this skill: /skills/pdf123-ocr-text.md

All agent skills

Files are used only for this processing job and deleted automatically afterward.