Convert scan to text
Scan to text without an app. Upload a scanned image or a photo of a page and download plain text.
Explore all 12 OCR apps
Extract text from a scan, turn a document into an office file, or build a searchable PDF. Pick an app and go.
What the scan to text converter gives you
Convert scan to text and keep the words
Scan to text is the job of getting words out of a picture. A scan is an image, so the text inside it is made of pixels. Nothing can be highlighted, searched or pasted anywhere until something has read the page and written those pixels out as real characters.
What is OCR? Optical character recognition is used to identify letters, numbers, or special characters in a scanned document or image. Using an OCR converter, you can extract the text from such files so you can change, edit, print, or save it.
What comes back is a plain text file. It carries the words and the line breaks and leaves the layout of the page behind. That is the right trade when you want the content rather than a copy of the paper: a quote to paste, a number to look up, a paragraph to rewrite.
Several scans can go in at once. Each image is converted on its own and comes back as its own text file, with the same language setting applied to all of them.
Scan text with the camera you already carry
You do not need a flatbed scanner to scan text. A photo of a page is an image, and the converter reads it the same way it reads a scan from an office machine. This is how most people scan a document now, on an iPhone or an Android phone, standing over a desk.
Sharpness matters more than the camera. Lay the page flat, fill the frame with it, shoot straight down rather than at an angle, and keep your own shadow off the paper. A page photographed that way converts about as well as a flatbed scan.
One thing to check first: phone scanning apps often save a page as a PDF rather than as a picture. This app takes images. If you have a PDF, the scanned PDF to text app is the one to use.
What is a TXT file?
The .txt file extension is used for plain text files. These files contain lines of text and can be opened in many text editors on different platforms and devices. The text does not contain any formatting.
For text recovered from a scan that is an advantage rather than a limitation. A text file weighs almost nothing, opens on a phone as readily as on a laptop, and can be pasted into an email, a spreadsheet or a document without dragging the styling of the original page along with it.
File extension: .txt, MIME type: text/plain
TXT on WikipediaWhich scans convert to text well
Recognition quality follows the quality of the scan. Here is what to expect from the files people upload most, including the cases this app cannot rescue.
| What you upload | Where it comes from | How well it converts |
|---|---|---|
| Sharp, straight scan | An office scanner or an all-in-one printer | Very well. This is the easiest case for any text recognition. |
| Photo of a page | A phone camera | Well, as long as the page is flat, fills the frame and has no shadow across it. |
| A stack of scans | A folder of image files | Each file is converted on its own and returns its own text file. |
| Crooked or tilted page | Paper fed in at an angle | Poorly. Square the page and scan it again, because this app does not rotate or straighten it for you. |
| Faint or low-resolution scan | An old copy or a very small image | Unevenly. Characters drop out. Scan again at 300 dpi where you can. |
The text recognition reads 123 document languages. Select the language of the text in your file before you start; English is already selected, so an English page needs no change at all.
Three ways to scan text without an app
The converter runs in the browser, so the route from paper to text is the same on a desk and on a phone.
From a scanner
Save the scan as a JPG, PNG or TIFF, drop it in above and download the words as a text file. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
From a phone
Photograph the page instead of scanning it. Open this page on the phone, upload the picture straight from the camera roll and the same text recognition runs on it.
Instead of a text scanner app
The app stores are full of text scanner downloads. This one is a web page. It asks for no permissions, needs no install and reads the same 123 languages on a phone as on a laptop.
Your scans stay private
A scan is usually a document you would not hand to a stranger: a payslip, a contract, an ID. This is exactly how yours is handled.
Encrypted from end to end of the trip
The upload and the download both run over an encrypted connection, and the link to your finished text is generated at random, so it cannot be guessed.
No person ever opens the file
Text recognition is fully automated. Nobody reads, views or copies your scans, nothing is monitored, and your files are never used to train AI models.
Processed on servers in Europe
Conversion happens on servers located in Europe, under a data processing agreement, and you keep the copyright to the scan and to the text that comes out of it.
How to convert a scanned image to text
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Upload
Upload your scanned image.
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Adjust
Select your text language for better results. (optional)
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Convert
Start the conversion and download the text after a short wait.
Scan to text FAQ
Is this scan to text converter free?
Yes. Converting a scan to text is free, needs no account and costs no credits. Upload the image, press Start and download the text file. A plan only matters for very large files and longer batches.
How do I convert a scan to text?
Upload the scan above, select the language of the text, then press Start. The converter reads the page and returns a plain text file you can open, search and edit in any text editor. There is nothing to install.
Can I scan text with my phone camera?
Yes. A photo of a page is an image, so it converts the same way a scan does. Lay the page flat, fill the frame and keep a shadow off the text. If your phone saved the page as a PDF instead of a picture, use the scanned PDF to text app for it.
Do I need a text scanner app?
No. A text scanner app is one way to read a page and this converter is another. It runs in the browser on a phone or a computer, needs no download and no sign-up, and reads the same 123 document languages either way.
Which files can I scan to text here?
Any common image, including JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP, GIF and WEBP. The app accepts images only. To pull the text out of a PDF instead, use the PDF to text app.
How many languages can the text recognition read?
123 document languages, from English, Spanish and Indonesian to Arabic, Hindi, Japanese and Korean. Pick the one that matches the text in your scan. English is preselected, so an English page needs no change.
My scan is crooked or faint. Will it still convert?
Partly, and the result will be uneven. This app does not rotate, straighten or clean up a page, so a tilted or washed-out scan loses characters. Square the paper on the glass, scan again at 300 dpi and the same file usually converts cleanly.
What happens to the scans I upload?
They travel over an encrypted connection and are processed automatically on servers in Europe. Nobody reads or copies them, they are not used to train AI models, and the download link is random, so it cannot be guessed. You keep the rights to the file and to the text.
More about text recognition
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Digitize important text from scanned documents and images with OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Extract text from images easily, online.
Read articleMore OCR apps
Every one of these runs in the browser, with the same text recognition behind it and nothing to install.