How to extract text from a scanned PDF on iPhone

iOS has no built-in way to do most PDF editing — the Files app can preview and rename PDFs, and Books can read them, but combining, splitting or editing pages means either paying for an app or handing your document to a website that uploads it. A browser tool avoids both: nothing to install from the App Store, and nothing uploaded off your phone.

A scan is just a picture of words — you can't select, search or copy anything until the text has been recognised.

Step by step on iPhone

1. 1Open the OCR tool and upload a scanned PDF or image.
2. 2Click “Extract text (OCR)” and wait while it recognizes the text.
3. 3Download the recognized text as a .txt file.

When you tap to add a file, iOS opens a picker with Photo Library, Take Photo or Video, and Choose File. Pick Choose File to reach PDFs stored in Files, iCloud Drive, Google Drive or Dropbox if you have those apps installed.

Where the finished file is saved on iPhone

Safari saves downloads to the Downloads folder inside the Files app (On My iPhone → Downloads by default). Tap the download arrow in Safari's address bar to jump straight to the finished file, then use the share sheet to move it to iCloud Drive, Mail or any other app.

What iPhone can’t do on its own

iOS can show you a PDF and let you scribble on it with Markup, but it can't merge two documents, pull out a page range, or edit existing text. Those are exactly the gaps a browser tool fills without an install.

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