# Make PDF Searchable Without Acrobat: Tools You Have - Author: Schema Law (https://www.schemalaw.com/) - Published: 2023-02-27T09:05:27Z - Updated: 2026-10-11T19:22:20Z - Category: OCR in everyday software - Canonical: https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/make-pdf-searchable-without-acrobat > You can make a PDF searchable without Acrobat. See which tools you already have return a searchable PDF, which give only text, and how to pick a route. You can make a PDF searchable without Acrobat. Preview on a Mac, the software that came with your scanner, many office copiers, other PDF editors, free programs such as NAPS2 and OCRmyPDF, and browser converters can all add a text layer. Word, OneNote and Google Drive read scans too, but they give you text, not a searchable PDF. That split is the thing to get straight before you spend an afternoon on the wrong tool. A searchable PDF is your scan with invisible text added behind each page. Extracted text is a new document with the words in it and the page left behind. Both are useful. Only one is what a court, a client or a review platform means by "searchable PDF". ## Can you make a PDF searchable without Acrobat? Yes. Adding searchable text to a scan is not an Adobe invention or an Adobe-only feature. Any program that performs OCR and writes the result back into the PDF can do it. At least six kinds of tool do. The six kinds, with where each is covered in more detail: 1. **The operating system.** On a Mac, Preview can embed recognized text when you export a PDF. 2. **Scanner software.** The program that drives a desktop document scanner often has a searchable PDF setting. 3. **The office copier.** Many multifunction devices can apply OCR as they scan to email or to a folder. 4. **Other PDF editors.** Bluebeam Revu and Foxit PDF Editor, for example, each document a recognition command. 5. **Free and open-source programs.** These run on your own computer at no cost. 6. **Browser converters.** You upload the scan and download a searchable copy. For the fourth group, this site has posts on the editors a firm is likely to own: [Bluebeam Revu's OCR command](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/bluebeam-make-pdf-searchable), what Foxit documents and what to weigh in a [Foxit OCR alternative](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/foxit-ocr-alternative), and the same treatment of [Nitro PDF's OCR](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/nitro-pdf-ocr-alternative) and [Power PDF's OCR](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/kofax-power-pdf-ocr). If you hold a licence for one of them, check its Convert or Document menu before you look any further. ### First, check that the PDF needs it Open the file and press Ctrl+F, or Command-F on a Mac. Search for a word you can see on the page. If it is found, the PDF already has text and you are done. If nothing is found and you cannot drag to highlight a sentence, the pages are images. What the added layer is, and how it sits behind the page, is explained in [what makes a scanned PDF searchable](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-make-a-scanned-pdf-searchable#what-makes-a-scanned-pdf-searchable). ### If you do have Acrobat somewhere in the office One licensed seat may be enough for occasional work. The procedure is in [how to make a PDF searchable in Adobe Acrobat](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-make-a-pdf-searchable-in-adobe). The rest of this post assumes you do not have one, or that the person who does is out today. ## Software already on a law office computer that recognizes text Four programs that may already be on a law office computer recognize text in a scan: Microsoft Word, Microsoft OneNote, Google Drive and, on a Mac, Preview. Only Preview writes the text back into the PDF. The other three hand you the words in a new place. ### Microsoft Word Word opens a PDF by converting a copy of it into an editable Word document. Microsoft's page on [opening PDFs in Word](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/opening-pdfs-in-word-1d1d2acc-afa0-46ef-891d-b76bcd83d9c8) says the conversion works best with files that are mostly text, and warns that a page that is mostly graphics "might show up as an image", in which case the text cannot be edited. What you get is a Word file. How Word treats a scan is covered in [how to scan a document into Word](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-scan-a-document-into-word). ### Microsoft OneNote OneNote has a command called Copy Text from Picture. Microsoft's page on [copying text from pictures in OneNote](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/copy-text-from-pictures-and-file-printouts-using-ocr-in-onenote-93a70a2f-ebcd-42dc-9f0b-19b09fd775b4) says you right-click an inserted picture, choose the command, and paste the text elsewhere. The output is whatever lands on your clipboard. The details are in the section on [OneNote's Copy Text from Picture](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/microsoft-onenote-handwriting-to-text#copy-text-from-picture-onenotes-ocr-for-scanned-pages). ### Google Drive Drive converts a PDF or photo to text when you open it with Google Docs, and the result is a Google Doc. Google publishes size and formatting guidance for the feature, which is set out in the post on a [Google Drive OCR alternative](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/google-drive-ocr-alternative). ### Preview on a Mac Preview is the exception in this group. Apple's guide to [embedding text in a PDF with Preview](https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/embed-text-prvw1ddb1cdf/mac) says that choosing File > Export and selecting Embed Text makes Preview scan for text and embed it in the PDF, so it can be selected in any PDF viewer. The macOS versions that have it, and how it differs from Live Text, are covered in [converting a PDF to a searchable PDF on a Mac](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/convert-pdf-to-searchable-pdf-mac). ### What "already installed" does not settle Being on the computer is not the same as being approved for client files. Word and Preview work on the file where it sits. Google Drive is a cloud service, and OneNote notebooks are often kept in a cloud account as well. Before a client's document goes into either, know which account you are signed in to and what your firm's policy says about it. ## Which of these tools hand back a searchable PDF, and which only text? Preview, scanner software, copiers with an OCR setting, PDF editors, NAPS2, OCRmyPDF, Tesseract and browser converters with a PDF export hand back a searchable PDF. Word, OneNote and Google Drive hand back text in a document of their own. The table sorts them. Each row reflects the maker's own documentation, linked in the section where the tool is discussed. | Tool | You start with | You get back | Searchable PDF? | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Preview (Mac) | A scanned PDF | An exported PDF with embedded text | Yes | | Microsoft Word | A PDF | A Word document | No | | Microsoft OneNote | A picture or printout inserted in a note | Text on the clipboard | No | | Google Drive with Google Docs | A PDF or photo in Drive | A Google Doc | No | | ScanSnap Home | Paper, or a PDF scanned earlier with a ScanSnap | A searchable PDF | Yes | | Epson Scan 2 | Paper | A searchable PDF, once Epson's OCR component is installed | Yes | | Xerox VersaLink scan to email | Paper | A PDF with searchable text, when the setting is on | Yes | | Bluebeam Revu | A scanned PDF | The PDF with searchable data | Yes | | Foxit PDF Editor | A scanned PDF | A PDF with an invisible text layer, or editable text | Yes | | NAPS2 | Paper or an imported PDF | A PDF with OCR text | Yes | | OCRmyPDF | A scanned PDF | A PDF with a text layer, in PDF/A form by default | Yes | | Tesseract | An image file | A PDF holding the image and a text layer | Yes | | Schema Law | A PDF, PNG or JPEG up to 20 MB | Your original file with a hidden text layer, among other exports | Yes | ### Can the text-only tools get you there by a side road? One attempt is to open the scan in Word or Google Docs and then save or download the result as a PDF. That does produce a PDF you can search. It is not a searchable copy of your scan. It is a new document, typeset by the word processor from whatever it recognized, with different line breaks and page breaks and without the signatures, stamps, letterhead and handwriting that were images on the original. For a working copy you only want to search yourself, that may be fine. For anything that stands in for the original, such as an exhibit, a production or a filed document, it is the wrong file. Use a tool from the "Yes" rows. Whichever route produced the file, search it for an exhibit number, the parties on the contract, and a phrase from the complaint. On a discovery PDF, find one affidavit date you can see on the page. When the picture still looks like the scan and those searches land, keep that copy next to the untouched original. ### A quick way to tell what you were given Open the result and look at page 1. If you see the scan itself, with its speckles and its slightly crooked edges, and you can also highlight a sentence, you have a searchable PDF. If you see crisp, freshly set type, you have a conversion. ## Scanner and copier software that adds text at scan time Much scanner software and many office copiers can run OCR as the page is scanned, so the PDF arrives searchable and nobody has to convert it later. The setting may be off until someone turns it on. It is often labelled "searchable PDF" or "searchable text" and sits in the scan profile or the device's settings. Three makers' documents show how this can look. Your device will differ, so treat these as examples of where to look, not as instructions for your model. ### Desktop document scanners The help site for ScanSnap Home describes a [Convert to Searchable PDF checkbox](https://www.pfu.ricoh.com/imaging/downloads/manual/ss_webhelp/en/help/webhelp/topic/ope_screen_advanced_setting_pdf.html) in the PDF file options of a scan profile. When it is selected, the help says, text on the image is recognized and a searchable PDF file is created. A second page covers [converting earlier scans into searchable ones](https://www.pfu.ricoh.com/imaging/downloads/manual/ss_webhelp/en/help/webhelp/topic/ope_mgr_searchable.html), and states a limit: only images of documents that you scanned with the ScanSnap can be converted. So it will not rescue a PDF someone emailed you. Epson's guide to [saving scanned documents as a searchable PDF in Epson Scan 2](https://files.support.epson.com/docid/cpd5/cpd51578/source/scanners/source/scanning_software/tasks/epson_scan_2/escan2_creating_searchable_pdf.html) says you select Searchable PDF as the image format and set the text language. It also says you must first download and install the Epson Scan 2 OCR Component through Epson Software Updater. ### Office copiers On a networked copier the setting usually belongs to an administrator. Xerox's support article on [enabling searchable PDF on VersaLink B7125, B7130 and B7135 devices](https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/article/KB0209365) describes logging in to the device's Embedded Web Server, opening the Email or Scan To app, and turning Searchable Text on. Xerox says the setting applies OCR to file formats that support it, such as PDF. ### What to ask whoever manages your devices - Does our copier or scanner have a searchable PDF or OCR setting, and is it licensed and switched on? - Is it on for scan to email, scan to folder, or both? - Which language is it set to? - Does it change the scan in other ways, such as compressing the file or straightening the page? - Can we have two buttons or profiles, one plain and one searchable? The last question matters more than it looks. Recognition is an extra processing step on every page, and there are documents you may want as a plain image first. Scanner settings in general, including resolution and color mode, are covered in the section on [scanner settings that make OCR work](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-digitize-law-firm-paper-files#scanner-settings-that-make-ocr-work). Recognition at scan time has one fixed limit. It only helps with paper you scan yourself. The PDF that arrives from opposing counsel, a hospital or a county recorder is already an image, and needs one of the other routes. ## Free and open-source routes to a searchable PDF Three free programs produce a searchable PDF on your own computer: NAPS2, which has a normal window and buttons, and OCRmyPDF and Tesseract, which run from a command line. They cost nothing and send nothing anywhere. They also come with no support desk, so someone at the firm has to own them. ### NAPS2 NAPS2 is a scanning program. Its [OCR documentation](https://www.naps2.com/doc/ocr) says that once you click the OCR button, download a language and tick "Make PDFs searchable using OCR", every PDF you save from then on has OCR text. It also handles files you already have: with OCR enabled, the documentation says, NAPS2 can add OCR to existing PDFs you import, leaving alone any page that already has text. It notes that NAPS2 has no way to save the recognized text straight to a text file. ### OCRmyPDF The [OCRmyPDF documentation](https://ocrmypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/introduction.html) describes it as an application that adds text layers to images in PDFs, "making scanned image PDFs searchable". The simplest command in its [cookbook of examples](https://ocrmypdf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/cookbook.html) is: ``` ocrmypdf input.pdf output.pdf ``` The cookbook says that form adds an OCR layer and converts the file to PDF/A, and that adding `--output-type pdf` gives a standard PDF instead. Other documented options include `-l` to set the language, `--deskew` to straighten pages scanned at an angle, and `--sidecar` to write the recognized text to a separate file. If you are unsure whether you want PDF/A, the post on [what PDF/A is](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/what-is-pdf-a) explains the format. The same documentation has a section on limitations. It lists among them that Tesseract, the OCR engine OCRmyPDF uses, may struggle to analyze the natural reading order of a document and does not divide text into paragraphs or headings. ### Tesseract Tesseract is the engine itself. Its [command-line documentation](https://tesseract-ocr.github.io/tessdoc/Command-Line-Usage.html) shows that adding `pdf` to the end of a command "creates a pdf with the image and a separate searchable text layer with the recognized text". Its examples take image files as input. When you start from a PDF, OCRmyPDF is the tool built for that, with Tesseract doing the recognition underneath. ### Is free the right price for a law office? Sometimes. Run through this before you commit. - **Who installs and updates it?** If the answer is "a lawyer, at night", count that time. - **Who do you call when it fails on a deadline?** There is nobody. - **Does it stay on the machine?** For these three, yes. That is their strongest point for restricted documents, and the post on [private OCR](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/private-ocr) goes further into in-house options. - **Will staff actually use a command prompt?** NAPS2 avoids the question. The other two do not. Free in this section means free software you run yourself. Free websites that convert files are a different thing, with different risks, covered in [whether free online OCR is safe for legal documents](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/free-online-ocr-safe-for-legal-documents). ## Picking a non-Acrobat route by document and deadline Pick by three facts: where the document came from, whether it may leave your computer, and how soon you need it. Paper you are about to scan should be made searchable at the scanner. A PDF that arrived by email needs a tool that accepts existing files. Restricted material stays on local software. | Situation | Route to try first | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | Paper on your desk, a scanner beside it | The scanner's searchable PDF setting | No second step | | One emailed scan, you are on a Mac | Preview's Embed Text export | Already installed | | One emailed scan, you are on Windows, nothing else installed, due in an hour | A browser converter your firm has approved | Nothing to install | | A folder of scans, time to set things up | NAPS2 or OCRmyPDF, or a PDF editor's batch command | Built for many files | | A document under a protective order | Local software only | The file never leaves the machine | | Construction drawings, and you have Revu | Bluebeam's OCR | It has settings meant for drawings | | You need the tables in Excel, not a searchable PDF | A converter with spreadsheet export | A text layer does not give you cells | | You only need to quote two paragraphs | Word, OneNote or Drive | Text is all you need | ### A worked example Ignatius is a solo practitioner on a Windows laptop with no Acrobat licence. At 3 p.m. a title company emails a 38-page scanned easement agreement, 6 MB. He needs to find every reference to "ingress" before a 5 p.m. call, and he will want the searchable copy in the file afterwards. The scanner route is out, since the document is already a PDF. Word would give him a re-typeset document, not the scan. Installing and learning a command-line tool will not fit in two hours. The agreement is recorded and public, so nothing bars an upload. He uses a browser converter, downloads the searchable PDF, searches it, and checks each hit against the page image. The original scan stays in the matter folder under its own name. Change one fact and the answer changes. If the same document were a sealed exhibit, he would stop and use local software, even if that meant the search waited until tomorrow. ### Where Schema Law fits Schema Law is a browser converter. Searchable PDF is one of its exports and is included on every plan. The Free plan allows one document a day of up to three pages, which is enough to see what the output looks like on a page of your own. The paid plans and their page allowances are on the [pricing page](https://www.schemalaw.com/pricing). It needs nothing installed. Because it is a website, your document is uploaded, which rules it out for anything that has to stay on your own equipment. ### Whichever route you pick, finish the same way 1. Keep the original scan untouched, under a name that marks it as the original. 2. Search the new file for a word from the first page, the middle and the last page. 3. Copy a paragraph out and read it against the page. Names, dates and amounts first. 4. Note in the file which tool made the searchable copy and when. No tool on this page is exempt from step 3. A searchable PDF with wrong text behind the image looks perfect and misses searches without telling you. ## Try it on a real document Upload a scanned PDF and export it as Word, a searchable PDF or plain text on the free plan. Your documents are never used to train an AI model. [Start free](https://www.schemalaw.com/api/auth/google)