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OCR text scanner

OCR Text Scanner App for iPhone

Turn scanned pages into text you can review and copy on iPhone. ScanLens recognizes the text on the device; use the result as editable text or export a PDF with a searchable text layer.

Download on the App Store

Free to download. Apple shows current trial eligibility and plan access before confirmation. See pricing details.

How to scan a document to text on iPhone

OCR (optical character recognition) reads the words in a page image and produces selectable text. A scan alone is a picture: recognition is the step that lets you copy its words or search them in a PDF.

  1. Scan the paper or import a document into ScanLens. Check that the text is sharp and the page edges are included.
  2. Open the OCR result. Select the source language that matches the page and compare the recognized words with the image.
  3. Correct errors before reusing the text. Copy it to another app, export TXT, or choose searchable PDF when you need the page image and text together.
ScanLens detecting the edges of a paper document before OCR 01

Capture or import the page

Fill the frame, keep the page sharp, and correct the edges before recognition.

ScanLens OCR result ready to review, copy, or translate 02

Review the recognized text

Compare important names, numbers, and dates with the original page and correct errors.

The ScanLens document library with the search field above scanned files 03

Reuse or keep the text searchable

Copy, translate, export as TXT, or create a PDF with an embedded text layer.

Check OCR errors before copying the text

Check names, dates, totals and reference numbers character by character. Blur, glare, small print and an incorrect source language can cause missing or wrong words. If the scan is unclear, fix the capture first: improve a scanned page.

For columns or tables, check the reading order as well as the words. OCR text may need line breaks, headings or table cells rebuilt in the destination editor. Recognition does not turn a photographed table into a verified spreadsheet.

Copy text, export TXT or make a searchable PDF

Copy or TXT export gives you text to edit in Notes, Word or another editor. It does not recreate the original page layout as a Word file. A searchable PDF keeps the page image with a recognized text layer; test a distinctive word in the exported file.

For an existing photo or screenshot, follow photo-to-text instructions. For another language after recognition, see translating a scanned document.

On-device OCR and Apple Live Text

ScanLens uses Apple Vision for OCR recognition on the iPhone, without uploading the page to ScanLens for recognition. Optional cloud export, backup and other online services use their own network connections. On-device OCR does not mean every app feature is offline.

If you only need a few words from a photo, Apple Live Text lets you select and copy them on a compatible iPhone. Use the ScanLens document workflow when you also need to capture pages, review OCR and export a searchable PDF.

Frequently asked questions about OCR on iPhone

Can OCR read handwritten notes?

Results vary by language, writing style and image quality. Test a representative page before processing a notebook, and compare important words with the original. See the handwriting-to-text guide.

Why does searching my PDF miss a word I can see?

The word may be absent or wrong in the recognized text layer, or you may have exported an image-only PDF. Check the OCR result and export option, then try selecting or searching text in the exported copy.

How many languages does ScanLens OCR support?

ScanLens OCR supports exactly 14 languages: English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Ukrainian. Select the source language that matches the page and review consequential output against the scan.

Is there free OCR on iPhone?

Partly, and the split is deliberate. Text recognition runs on your scans in the background and searching inside your documents is free — you can find a contract by a phrase printed on its third page without unlocking anything. What belongs to the paid feature set is the OCR screen itself: reading the recognized text, copying it, translating it, and exporting it as TXT. The pricing page lists the current plans. Either way this is an iPhone app rather than desktop software, and recognition runs on the device.

Related OCR and searchable PDF guides

Scan Handwriting to Text

Test a handwritten page and compare recognized words with the original.

Scan Text from a Photo

Import a saved photo or screenshot, review the OCR result, and copy the text you need.

Translate a Scanned Document

Review OCR text and use the Translate action with clear layout and accuracy limits.

Searchable PDF on iPhone

Make scanned PDFs text-searchable without converting.

Download ScanLens for OCR text scanning on iPhone

Scan or import a page, select one of 14 OCR languages, review the recognized text, and use the supported copy, edit, translate, export, or searchable PDF actions. See pricing and plans for access details.