Just like text files and Word documents, the PDF file format is scannable. You can use a search bar to find keywords in the text. Yet, when scanning a paper directly into PDF, you may notice that the search bar suddenly doesn’t work, and your text is no longer browsable.
Here, you’ll find the way to make PDF searchable with an online tool PDF Guru, and restore the opportunity to find the needed part of the text with the search tool.
Why Is Your PDF File Non-Searchable?
The PDF file itself supports multiple forms of media, including text, images, illustrations, spreadsheets, and so on. What’s special here is that a saved document can be opened and edited once again. This is possible thanks to OCR (Optical character recognition) technology.
🕵️ Here’s a quick test: try to search PDF for text:
- Open your PDF document on the web or in any PDF viewer.
- Learn how to search a word in PDF in your viewer exactly. Most web browser viewers support the hotkey Command+F on macOS and Ctrl+F on Windows.
- Open the search bar and enter any keyword (make sure it is present in the text beforehand).
- Ideally, the search system scans the file and finds the keyword. If it happens, your PDF is already optimized and doesn’t need any changes.
What if the search suddenly doesn’t work? It may happen to scanned papers. For example, you’ve made a photo of a printed document, scanned it, and turned it into a PDF. File viewers still see your document as an image and cannot identify text. The task is to make PDF searchable.
Turning PDF Into Browsable Files: A Step-By-Step Guide
Creating searchable PDF documents is easy with online PDF editors:
- Search for a “PDF to OCR”. This tool uses Optical character recognition to identify and analyze the text in your PDF.
- Upload your PDF file. Consider file conversion if you have other formats: JPG to PDF, PNG to PDF, etc.
- Choose the conversion type. You may turn the file into a Word document, a TXT file, or leave it as a PDF, but with a searchable text feature.
- Wait for several seconds. The procedure timing depends on your file size and the number of words. Note that images, made under poor light, may be harder to read. The service can make mistakes if you send scans of poor quality.
- 💾Download the final document. You may turn a file into DOCX or plain text, yet it is less convenient. Instead, consider a PDF with searchability.
Test the result after conducting the procedure. Open the final document and use the search bar. Now, your device recognizes text and searches for keywords.
Can You Turn PDFs into Searchable Files on Mobile Devices?
Consider online editors to work with your document on any device. An online PDF to OCR function is available on Android and iOS and works directly in your browser. This is a key advantage of online PDF tools over installed programs.
Can You Turn a Final File into Other Formats?
Once the text in your PDF is recognized, you can easily turn the document into other scannable formats without losing browsability:
- DOC and DOCX;
- PPTX;
- Excel spreadsheet;
- TXT;
- EPUB, FB2, and MOBI.
These text-focused formats identify text and can be browsed. Yet, you may lose searchability when turning a PDF into JPG, PNG, and other images.
Why Would You Need to Make a PDF Searchable?
Not so crucial for 1–2-page files, searchability in large documents facilitates work, life, and study tasks:
- quickly search for key figures and insights in research pieces;
- look for the needed chapter in a PDF digital book;
- find the required parts of the textbooks;
- search for information by using related words and terms, etc.
All this doesn’t require conversion to TXT, DOCX, and other text files. Built into the PDF file format, the function preserves PDF’s flexibility and quality, while enabling a convenient search feature.
Choosing a Reliable OCR Tool: Key Tips
Most file converters offer a PDF to OCR service as well. The key to successful transformation is the right tool choice:
- Strong privacy policy. The service may use your file for learning purposes. Yet, it must not share it with third parties.
- Size and volume limitations. Some services come with word count or page limitations.
- Layout perseverance. Advanced tools not only identify text but also preserve complicated layouts: spreadsheets, graphs, diagrams, etc.
- Language acceptance. Multilingual users may need OCR for more languages, except for English.
Finally, compare the accuracy of data interpretation. Errors in rare cases are acceptable, especially if the scan was made in poor lighting, but in general, OCR services in 2025 are quite accurate.
Final Thoughts
A searchable PDF file is a superb tool for editing, reading, and managing digital documents. Once you know how to make PDFs searchable, use this file format for document editing, splitting, and merging files at work, and studying with textbooks 📚