--- title: "Make a scanned PDF editable and searchable with OCR" description: "Run OCR on a scanned PDF to add a text layer you can search, select, copy and edit. Choose languages and pages, then open the result in the PDF editor." url: https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/make-scanned-pdf-editable-ocr/ collection: "Editing & annotating" section: "Pages & scans" updated: 2026-10-18 publisher: "PDFBetter (AI Generated Inc.)" --- # Make a scanned PDF editable and searchable with OCR > Open the [OCR PDF](https://pdfbetter.com/tools/ocr-pdf/) tool, upload the scan, pick the **Languages** and pages and click **Recognize text**. The result looks identical but has a searchable text layer; click **Open in the editor** to change its text. OCR is counted per page recognized. - Counts toward: OCR pages Do it in PDFBetter: https://pdfbetter.com/app/tools/ A scan is a picture of a page, so the editor can't select or change its words. If you click a scan in **Edit PDF**, the editor says there's no editable text and offers **OCR PDF**. Search says the same when a document has no text layer. OCR isn't a button inside the editor; it's a separate tool that hands its result back to the editor. 1. **Open OCR PDF**: Go to [OCR PDF](https://pdfbetter.com/tools/ocr-pdf/), or [Edit a scanned PDF](https://pdfbetter.com/tools/edit-scanned-pdf/) if you mainly want to change the text afterwards. Upload the scan. 2. **Choose the engine**: Keep **Searchable PDF (standard OCR)**. It adds an invisible text layer and leaves the page images exactly as they are. 3. **Pick languages and pages**: Select every language that appears on the page. Limit **Pages** if you only need some. Leave **Also re-recognize pages that already have text** off unless the existing text is garbled. 4. **Recognize and open**: Click **Recognize text**. When it's done, download the searchable PDF or click **Open in the editor** to edit the text with **Edit PDF**. ## What it costs OCR runs on our servers and counts one OCR page for every page actually recognized. Pages that already have real text are skipped and not counted. | Per month | No account | Free | Pro | Business | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | OCR pages | 5 | 20 | 1,000 | 5,000 | "Unlimited" is subject to fair use; "—" means not included. ## Handwriting, tables and faded print Standard OCR struggles with handwriting and poor scans. The **AI transcription** engine in the same tool runs standard OCR first and sends only the pages it reads poorly to a vision model, at 2 [AI credits](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/ai-credits/) per such page. You get the text as a new editable document. Check names and numbers against the scan. > **Note:** Applying redactions turns affected pages into images, so their text is no longer searchable. Run OCR again afterwards if you need it. ### Will OCR change how my scan looks? No. Standard OCR adds an invisible text layer behind the image; the page looks the same. ### I only need to fill in a scanned form. Do I need OCR? No. Use the **Text** tool to type anywhere on the scan. OCR is for searching, copying or changing the printed words. ### Can I OCR while converting to Word? Yes. [PDF to Word](https://pdfbetter.com/tools/pdf-to-word/) has its own **Recognize text in scans (OCR)** option, counted the same way. ## Related articles - [Edit the existing text in a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/edit-existing-pdf-text.md): Switch the editor from Fill out to Edit PDF (or press E), click a line of the document's text and type. The new text is drawn over a cover patch in the closest standard font; the old characters stay in the file unless you redact them. - [Can't select, search or edit text in a scanned PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/scanned-pdf-text-not-editable.md): A scan has no real text, only a picture of it, so Edit text and search find nothing. Run OCR PDF to add a searchable text layer, or Edit scanned PDF to recognize the text and then correct it in the editor. - [Redact a PDF permanently](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/redact-pdf-permanently.md): Choose Redact (in the Cover group), drag over everything to remove, then click Apply redactions and confirm. Text, images and drawings under each mark are removed from the file, not just covered, and the affected pages become images. - [Ask questions about a PDF and check the cited pages](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/chat-with-pdf-citations.md): Open the document, go to the Ask tab of the AI assistant, type a question and click Ask. Answers come only from that file and list Sources: click a p. 4 chip to jump to the quoted page. Each message costs 1 credit. - [Convert between PDF and Word, Excel or PowerPoint](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/convert-pdf-word-excel-powerpoint.md): Open the matching tool (for example PDF to Word or Word to PDF), upload the file, set the options and click Convert. Office conversions run on our servers and each one counts toward your monthly Office & advanced conversions. --- Source: https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/make-scanned-pdf-editable-ocr/ · PDFBetter Help Center · Last checked against the product 2026-10-18. Questions: support@pdfbetter.com