How do I OCR a PDF in Adobe?

Last reviewed: September 23, 2026 · Markdown version

Acrobat calls it Scan & OCR, and it is two clicks deeper in the menu than people expect. Adobe's own description of the problem is the clearest one: "When you scan a paper document to PDF, the resulting file contains only image data, not searchable text" (Recognize text in scanned documents, read 23 September 2026). All steps below are Adobe's.

One file

Open the scanned PDF and select All tools > Scan & OCR.
Select In this file.
"In the dialog box, select the page range and language for text recognition."
Optionally select Settings for additional options.
Select Recognize Text.

"Acrobat creates a searchable text layer in your PDF." That is the whole change Adobe describes: the scan still looks like a scan, and gains text you can select and search.

Several files at once

All tools > Scan & OCR, then In multiple files.
"In the Recognize Text dialog box, select Add files and select the PDFs you want to process."
"In the Output Options dialog box, specify a target folder for the processed files and set filename preferences. Select OK."
Set the General Settings options, select OK. "Acrobat processes the selected documents and creates searchable versions in the specified output folder."

Note the output folder: batch OCR writes new files rather than editing the originals in place.

The step that blocks it

Adobe puts this first for a reason: "Remove any security restrictions before editing a scanned PDF." Adobe puts it before the steps. Adobe also recommends saving "a backup copy of the original scanned PDF before editing", "so you can restore it if needed".

Adobe's page does not say what Acrobat does with a page that already carries text, so check before you start rather than assume. How to tell.

A shortcut that is easy to miss

On the desktop app, simply choosing Edit on a scanned PDF does it for you: "Acrobat automatically applies OCR to your document and converts it to an editable PDF copy" (Edit scanned documents, read 23 September 2026). Useful, and worth knowing it has happened, because that is a conversion you did not explicitly ask for.

What a text layer does not guarantee

Recognition is a reading, not a transcription. Adobe's own advice after a pass is to "review the document to ensure the text is accurate and complete", and to "correct any errors manually or rerun OCR with adjusted settings". A misread stores the wrong word, so a search for the correct spelling silently misses it — the page looks searchable and is not, for that word.