How to extract text from a scanned document

Turn a scan into editable text instead of typing it again.

Updated Aug 20, 2026

A scanned document is an image, so recovering its text needs OCR. If it is in a PDF, convert it to an image first and then extract the text.

Extract the text step by step

Get an image of the documentHave a sharp photo or scan. If it is a PDF, convert it to JPG page by page first.
Extract the textUpload the image to the image-to-text tool.
Review and fixDownload the .txt and correct the recognition errors you see.

Quick answers

Because a scan is an image: conversion to Word does not recognise text. For scans you need OCR, not a direct conversion.

The tool processes one image per job. Convert each PDF page to JPG and extract the text from the ones you need.

No. It returns the recognised text in a .txt; the original layout is not rebuilt.