Make a scanned PDF searchable on your Mac with OCR
By Himanshu Ranjan · Updated 8 November 2026
To make a scanned PDF searchable on a Mac with FileDial, select it in Finder, hold the right Option key and choose OCR › Make searchable. FileDial adds an invisible text layer to pages that have none, so you can search, select and copy. Extract text with OCR saves all the text to a .txt file instead. It runs on your Mac with nothing uploaded.
How to do it with FileDial
- Select the scanned PDF, or a batch of them, in Finder.
- If pages are tilted, hold right ⌥ and choose OCR › Straighten scanned pages… first.
- Hold right ⌥ and choose OCR › Make searchable.
- Open the new PDF beside the original and use Find to check the text.
- For plain text instead, choose OCR › Extract text with OCR.
Your original file stays untouched. The result is saved beside it, and every result has Undo.
Which option to pick
| Tool | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Make searchableOCR | A scan looks fine but you can't search it: adds an invisible text layer to pages without text. |
| Extract text with OCROCR | You want the words, not the PDF: reads every page as an image and saves a .txt. |
| Straighten scanned pages…OCR | Tilted scans: those pages become straightened pictures, while already straight pages are kept. |
| Scan to PDF…Batch | Starting from paper: takes photos of pages, or a folder of them, and makes a PDF; it doesn't take a PDF as input. |
What OCR can and can't do with your scans
A scanned PDF is a set of pictures of pages. You can read it, but your Mac can't, which is why Spotlight and Find come up empty. OCR (optical character recognition) reads the shapes of letters and adds a hidden text layer aligned with the image, so the page looks identical but becomes searchable and copyable. Make searchable only works on pages without text, so it won't duplicate text in PDFs that already have it.
Accuracy depends mostly on the scan. Clean, straight, evenly lit pages read well. Skewed pages, low resolution, heavy shadows, handwriting and decorative fonts all reduce accuracy. Straightening tilted pages before OCR helps, and FileDial keeps straight pages exactly as they were.
Choose the output by what you will do next. A searchable PDF keeps the layout and is best for filing and finding things later. A .txt from Extract text with OCR is better for pasting into notes or another document. To edit the layout, see PDF to Word, which also OCRs scans.
- Archive of old statements: Make searchable, then search them all with Spotlight.
- Quote from a scanned book: Extract text with OCR.
- New paper document: photograph the pages, use Scan to PDF… to make a PDF from the photos, then Make searchable.
Why not use an online OCR service?
OCR is most useful on exactly the papers you would least like to share: old tax returns, medical letters, signed agreements, identity documents. An OCR website has to read every word to do its job. Cybernews reported in July 2024 that two online PDF services exposed 89,062 user-uploaded files through open Amazon S3 storage, including passports, IDs, certificates and contracts.
FileDial's OCR runs on the Mac. On a MacBook, a 42 MB PDF was OCR'd in about 2 seconds, with nothing uploaded and Wi-Fi off if you like.
Other ways to get text from a scan on a Mac
Recent versions of macOS include Live Text, which lets you select and copy text from images, including in Preview. That is handy for grabbing a phone number or a paragraph, but it does not save a searchable text layer into the PDF, so the file remains unsearchable in Spotlight.
FileDial is the better fit when you want the file itself fixed: a searchable PDF saved beside the original, batches of scans processed in one go, straightening built in, and Undo on every result.
Questions
Does OCR change how my PDF looks?
No. Make searchable adds an invisible text layer to pages without text, so the pages look the same. Straighten scanned pages… does change tilted pages into straightened pictures, while straight ones are kept.
How fast is OCR in FileDial?
On a MacBook, a 42 MB PDF was OCR'd in about 2 seconds. Actual speed depends on the number of pages and on your Mac, but it runs locally with no upload wait.
Does it work offline?
Yes. OCR runs on your Mac and works with Wi-Fi off. Files are never uploaded, so scanned statements, letters and IDs stay on your own disk the whole time.
Can I OCR many PDFs at once?
Yes. Select all of them in Finder and choose OCR › Make searchable. FileDial runs the tool on the whole batch and saves a searchable copy beside each file.
Can OCR read handwriting?
Results on handwriting are much less reliable than on printed text. Check the output before relying on it, especially for numbers and names, and keep the original scan as the reference.