Convert from PDF guide
Convert a Scanned PDF to Editable Word
Updated
Short answer: Run the scan through OCR PDF to add a text layer, then convert the OCR'd file with PDF to Word.
If you've converted a scan and got a Word file with no text in it, the converter wasn't broken. A scan contains no text to convert until OCR has recognised it.
Step by step
Step 1: If pages are sideways or upside down, fix them first; OCR reads upright text far more accurately.
Open Rotate PDF(runs on your device)Step 2: Open OCR PDF, drop the scan and choose the document's language: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese.
Open OCR PDF(runs on our server)Step 3: Download the searchable PDF and test it by selecting a sentence or searching for a word you can see.
Step 4: Drop the searchable PDF into PDF to Word and download the DOCX.
Open PDF to Word(runs on our server)Step 5: Proofread numbers, names and anything in small print before you rely on the document.
Why this works, and what to watch for
A PDF can hold two very different things: real text, stored as characters in a font, or a picture of a page. Scanners and phone scanning apps produce the second. PDF to Word works by reading the characters, headings and tables in a file, so when a page is a single image it has nothing to read. OCR (optical character recognition) looks at the image, works out which letters are there, and stores them as an invisible text layer behind the picture. After that, the PDF behaves like a normal one.
OCR PDF uses Tesseract via OCRmyPDF and straightens slightly crooked scans as it goes. Choosing the right language matters: it tells the engine which letters and accents to expect and which word lists to use, so a French letter recognised as English loses its accents and gets more errors.
Quality in, quality out. A 300 DPI scan recognises much better than 150 DPI; a sharp, evenly lit page beats a shadowy phone photo; and handwriting, decorative fonts and tiny print are where errors appear. Tables in scans are harder than in digital PDFs, because ruling lines may be faint or broken, so check them closely.
PDF to Word aims for an editable document rather than a facsimile. Paragraphs flow, headings become real Word headings and tables become Word tables, but complex multi-column layouts are simplified into a single column. If you need the page to look identical rather than be editable, keep the searchable PDF instead.
OCR is a Pro feature because it is the most computing-heavy thing we run. PDF to Word itself is free within the daily limit.