# No Install OCR: Converting Scans on a Locked-Down Computer

- Author: Schema Law (https://www.schemalaw.com/)
- Published: 2026-07-07T19:11:27Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T19:22:20Z
- Category: Choosing legal OCR
- Canonical: https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/no-install-ocr

> No install OCR runs in the browser, so a locked-down firm computer can still convert a scan. What it needs, what IT may block, and when to avoid it.

Yes, you can run OCR with no install on a work computer. Web based OCR does the reading on the provider's side, so the machine in front of you only has to open a web page, send the scan and save the result. What can still stop you is firm policy on where client files may go.

That distinction matters on a locked-down computer. The lock on installing programs and the rule about uploading documents are two separate controls, and passing the first tells you nothing about the second.

A browser page can be open while the upload is still forbidden. Read the engagement letter and any outside counsel guidelines before you send discovery or other client files. Your duty of confidentiality and the firm's client confidentiality rules are what decide whether the file may leave the building. The install lock only stops new programs. If the attorney has not approved the site, save the scan locally and ask.

## Can you run OCR without installing anything on a firm computer?

Yes. OCR that runs in a browser needs no installer, no administrator password and no change to the firm computer. You open the site, sign in, upload the scan and download the converted file. The recognition happens on the provider's systems, so nothing has to be added to yours.

That is the whole appeal when you cannot install software: the request to IT for a new program, and the wait that follows, never happens. Schema Law's homepage, for one, puts the install question under [questions partners ask first](https://www.schemalaw.com/#questions) and answers that you upload from your browser and download the result.

Two things are worth checking before you rely on a site that describes itself as no install.

- **Does it ask for a browser extension?** An extension is an install. Managed browsers can block extensions for the same reason managed computers block programs.
- **Does it offer a "helper" or desktop companion to finish the job?** If the download button hands you an installer, close it. A program you fetch yourself is a different decision, and the post on [downloading free OCR to Word software](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/free-ocr-to-word-software-download) covers what to check first.

## What no install OCR still needs: a browser, a sign-in and an upload

No install OCR still needs three things from a locked-down computer: a browser the site supports, a way to sign in, and permission to upload a file and save a download. Any one of them can be restricted on a managed machine, so test all three with a harmless page before the day you need them.

| Requirement | What can block it on a firm computer | How to find out |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A browser | An old or restricted browser that the site does not support | Open the site and see whether the upload page loads |
| A sign-in | Personal accounts barred, or sign-in to outside services blocked | Try to sign in with the account your firm permits |
| An upload | Uploads to unapproved sites stopped by the firm's filtering | Upload a blank scanned page, never a client file |
| A download | Downloads blocked, or saved only to a set folder | Export the blank page and see where it lands |

For Schema Law the specifics are these. You sign in with Google, so check which Google account your firm permits for work, and note that a firm that bars Google sign-in on work machines has ruled the tool out on those machines. The upload is a PDF, PNG or JPEG of up to 20 MB. The Free plan allows one document a day of up to three pages, which is enough to run the four checks in the table. The [three steps on the homepage](https://www.schemalaw.com/#how-it-works) show the flow from upload to export.

The file size cap deserves a second look on a locked-down computer. If a scan is over the limit and you have no program for splitting a PDF, you cannot fix it at your desk. Rescan it in black and white or in two halves at the copier instead.

## Does firm IT have to approve OCR that runs in a browser?

That depends on your firm's policy, not on the technology. A browser tool gets past the lock on installing software, but an upload sends a client document to an outside company, and a firm's rules on outside services apply to that whether or not anything was installed. Read the policy or ask before the first real file.

Three things to look for in your own firm's documents:

1. **An approved list.** A policy may name the outside services staff may use for client files. If the list exists and the tool is not on it, the answer is no until someone adds it.
2. **A rule by document type.** A policy may allow public filings to go anywhere and restrict client files or protected material. Know which kind you are holding.
3. **A named approver.** If the policy says who decides, send that person the tool's published terms and security statements instead of deciding yourself.

If the site is blocked, treat the block as the firm's answer. Do not look for a way around it with a personal phone, a home computer or a personal email account. Moving a client file onto a device the firm does not manage creates a second problem on top of the first. Ask for the site to be reviewed.

If your firm has no written rule yet, the post on a [law firm AI policy for document uploads](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/law-firm-ai-policy-document-upload) sets out what one should cover. To give an approver something concrete, point them to the vendor's own statements. Schema Law's are its [security commitments](https://www.schemalaw.com/#security), which apply to every plan.

## Browser OCR from a courthouse, a client site or a borrowed laptop

Browser OCR works from any computer that can reach the site, which makes it usable away from the office. The risks move from the software to the surroundings: an unfamiliar network, a machine that is not yours, and copies of the file left behind in its downloads folder.

A short routine for a computer you do not control:

1. **Decide whether the document may be handled there at all.** A client's conference room computer or a shared courthouse terminal is someone else's equipment. If the file is confidential, your own firm laptop is the safer place.
2. **Use a private browser window** so the sign-in is not remembered when the window closes.
3. **Check the size before you upload.** On a slow or metered connection a large scan can stall. A few pages at a time is more dependable than one long file.
4. **Save the export somewhere you will take with you,** and note the folder.
5. **Delete what you leave behind.** Remove the scan and the export from the downloads folder, then empty the trash if the machine lets you.
6. **Sign out of the tool and of the account you signed in with,** then close the window.

A worked example. A paralegal at a records inspection in a client's office is handed a twelve-page scanned supply agreement and asked which clause sets the renewal date. She has a firm laptop with no OCR program and no rights to install one. The firm's policy allows the tool for client files. She uploads the PDF in the browser, exports a searchable PDF, searches for "renew", and reads clause 14 against the page image before she answers.

## When no install OCR is the wrong choice for a law office

No install OCR is the wrong choice when the document may not leave the firm's systems, when there is no dependable connection, when the file is larger than the upload limit and cannot be split, or when the work needs more than conversion. In each case the obstacle is something a browser cannot change.

- **The document is restricted.** A protective order, a client instruction or the firm's own policy may bar sending it to an outside service. No feature of a website changes that.
- **There is no connection.** A browser tool does nothing offline.
- **The file does not fit.** A scan over the size or page limit has to be split or rescanned first, and a locked-down computer may give you no way to do it.
- **You need to change the PDF itself.** Schema Law reads pages into text and tables and exports them. It does not redact, stamp or [edit a PDF](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/editing-scanned-pdf). For that work you need the firm's PDF software.
- **The volume belongs in a managed process.** A whole production is a job to plan with whoever runs litigation support, not to feed through a browser one file at a time on a borrowed afternoon.

When one of these applies, the alternative is an installed program that IT sets up and controls. The full comparison of [online OCR and desktop OCR for law firms](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/online-ocr-vs-desktop-ocr-for-law-firms) explains what each one asks of a firm and how to sort documents between them.

## 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)