Scanned PDF? Here's How to Actually Make It Editable
Learn how to convert scanned PDFs to editable Word documents. Understand OCR technology and the best approaches for image-based PDFs.
- ✓Text-based PDFs convert instantly — tables, images, and formatting intact.
- ✓Scanned PDFs need OCR first — we'll show you the best free options.
- ✓Your privacy matters — even for OCR, we recommend local-first tools.
How MixConvert Compares
| OCR Tool | Free? | Accuracy | Privacy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | ✅ Yes | ⭐⭐⭐ Good | ❌ Cloud |
| Tesseract (local) | ✅ Yes | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very Good | ✅ Local |
| Adobe Acrobat | ❌ $15/mo | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | ❌ Cloud |
"I appreciated the honesty. They told me my PDF was scanned, pointed me to a free OCR tool, then I ran it through MixConvert. Perfect result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can MixConvert OCR scanned PDFs?▼
MixConvert doesn't include OCR. For scanned PDFs, use a dedicated OCR tool first, then convert with us.
How do I know if my PDF is scanned?▼
Try selecting text in your PDF. If you can't highlight individual words, it's likely a scanned image.
What's the best free OCR tool?▼
Google Docs offers free OCR: upload your PDF to Drive, open with Docs, and it extracts the text.
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