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Jerichouy's avatar
Jerichouy
Brass Contributor
May 21, 2026

How to extract text from pdf on Windows? It is a scanned PDF

Hi everyone, I have several scanned PDF files that I need to extract text from. Some PDFs allow me to select and copy the text directly, but others seem to be scanned documents or locked in a way th...
Rhysin's avatar
Rhysin
Brass Contributor
May 21, 2026

The most direct and private method is to use the built-in OCR engine that comes free with Windows. You don't need to install any extra software to use this feature.

How it works: Windows has a native OCR engine called Windows, Media, Ocr that can extract text from images. It works entirely offline, meaning your documents never leave your computer.

The Tool: You can access this engine via Microsoft PowerToys, a free, open-source utility officially published by Microsoft for power users .

How to extract text from PDF:

1. Install PowerToys: Download and install Microsoft PowerToys.

2. Open your Scanned PDF: Use any PDF viewer (like Microsoft Edge or Adobe Reader) to open the scanned document on your screen.

3. Activate Text Extractor: Press the activation shortcut: Win + Shift + T . A transparent overlay will appear on your screen.

4. Select the Text: Click and drag your mouse to draw a box over the area of text you want to copy.

5. Paste the Text: The text is automatically copied to your clipboard. You can now paste it (Ctrl + V) into any document or text editor.

Start with Microsoft PowerToys if you want to know how to extract text from PDF. It is an official Microsoft tool, works entirely offline, and is perfectly suited for quickly extracting text from any scanned document you see on your screen.