Drop an image here or
JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, PDF - up to 10 MB
How Free OCR Works
Upload a file for free OCR
Drop a photo, scanned document, screenshot, or PDF into the free OCR uploader. JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, and PDF files up to 10 MB are supported. Need to convert to PDF first? We've got that too.
Free OCR reads the text
The OCR engine analyses the image and extracts visible words while preserving line breaks and structure. You can also use the Photo Editor to crop or clean up your image before uploading.
Use your free OCR result
The extracted text appears in an editable box. Copy the result to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file.
What Is Free OCR?
Free OCR is optical character recognition you can use without buying software. It reads words inside an image or scanned PDF and turns them into selectable, editable text. xlsx.now offers two free OCR scans per day without requiring an account.
Our free OCR tool uses the Unlimited-OCR model running on Blackwell GPU infrastructure. It supports more than 100 languages and works with receipts, forms, screenshots, book pages, signs, and scanned documents. If your source needs preparation, use the Photo Editor before running free OCR.
Looking specifically for a converter workflow? Visit our Image to Text page.
Free OCR Accuracy by Image Type
| Image type | Standard (free) | AI-powered |
|---|---|---|
| Clean printed text, typed documents | Excellent | Excellent |
| Scanned books and forms | Good | Excellent |
| Screenshots, UI text | Good | Excellent |
| Complex multi-column layouts | Fair | Excellent |
| Tables and structured data | Fair | Excellent |
| Handwriting | Poor | Good |
| Stylised / decorative fonts | Poor | Good |
| Non-Latin scripts (Arabic, CJK) | Good (with language pack) | Excellent |
How to Get Better Free OCR Results
Use high resolution
300 DPI or higher gives the engine the detail it needs for accurate character recognition. Avoid compressed or heavily pixelated images - If your file is too large, compress it first without losing legibility.
Keep it straight
The engine handles slight rotation but performs best on level, upright text. Severely skewed or rotated pages should be corrected before uploading - Use the Photo Editor to straighten and crop your image first.
High contrast helps
Dark text on a light background gives the clearest signal. Low-contrast or coloured backgrounds can reduce accuracy - consider using the Photo Editor to adjust contrast before extracting.