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FIND THE LINE YOU NEED.

Search inside a PDF without uploading it.

Find every match for a word, phrase, reference number or name, jump directly to the page and hand scanned documents to OCR only when search needs it.

  1. 1. Choose
  2. 2. Prepare
  3. 3. Process
  4. 4. Review & export
Choose a PDFDrop a file here or browse. Files stay on this device — nothing is uploaded to run this tool.

Search PDF runs locally in this browser tab. Known limits: Image-only pages have no text layer; OCR is required to search them

What this tool does and does not change

  • Preserved where the source file allows it: text, vectors, links, annotations, forms, bookmarks, metadata.
  • Image-only pages have no text layer; OCR is required to search them

Questions about Search PDF

Why can I see a word in the PDF but search cannot find it?
The visible page may be an image rather than text, or the PDF may contain an unusual/broken character encoding. If the page is a scan, run OCR first. If selectable text exists but search still fails, PDF Atelier should report that the embedded text layer may be malformed.
Can I search a scanned PDF?
Yes, after OCR creates a searchable text layer. The Search tool should detect likely image-only pages and offer a direct handoff to OCR rather than simply returning “0 results”.
Can I search only part of a PDF?
Yes. A page-range filter is useful for large documents and repeated terms. It also reduces work when OCR has to be run on only one section.
Does PDF search support exact phrases?
It should support normal phrase matching and optional whole-word or case-sensitive modes. More advanced regular-expression or fuzzy search can be added later, but the default experience should remain simple.
Will search upload the document or index it on a server?
For the local Search tool, text extraction and indexing happen in the browser. The index should be discarded with the working session unless the user explicitly enables a local history feature.
Can I search for numbers such as invoice IDs or case references?
Yes. Numbers and mixed alphanumeric references should be searchable like words as long as they exist in the PDF text layer or have been recognized correctly by OCR.
Does search change my PDF?
No. Normal search is a reader operation and does not modify the document. A new file is created only if you choose OCR or another editing tool.
Can Search PDF find meaning rather than exact words?
Not in the core local search feature. It is designed for text matching, not AI semantic retrieval. Keeping those concepts separate makes the behavior predictable and avoids sending document content to an external model.

Related tasks

  • OCR PDF make a scanned PDF searchable.
  • Compare PDF find changes between two PDF versions.
  • Extract PDF Pages save the pages containing the information you found.
  • Redact PDF find and mark sensitive text for removal.