---
title: How to Copy Text From a Scanned or Locked PDF | Relic
description: A scanned PDF is an image of a page; a locked one blocks copying on purpose. How to copy text from a scanned PDF or a locked one with OCR and workarounds.
canonical: https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-scanned-or-locked-pdf
source: https://relic.space/llms.txt
---
[Copying text from images and PDFs](https://relic.space/blog/topics/copy-from-images)

# How to copy text from a scanned or locked PDF

Some PDFs refuse to give up their text. Either the page is a scan, which is really a photo of words, or the file is locked so copying is blocked. Here is how to get the text out of both, using OCR and a couple of safe workarounds, on desktop and phone.

[JGJordan Gibbs](https://relic.space/authors/jordan-gibbs) June 29, 2026 6 min readUpdated September 12, 2026

Optical character recognition reads the words inside an image and turns them into selectable, copyable text.

You highlight a paragraph, press Ctrl+C, paste it, and get nothing. Or you get a jumble of broken characters. With a normal PDF this would just work, so something about this one is different. There are two common culprits, and they need two different fixes. The first thing to do is find out which problem you actually have.

## How do you get text out of a PDF that will not copy?

Two problems, two fixes. If nothing highlights when you drag your cursor, the page is a scan, so run OCR on it and the words become selectable. If the text highlights but will not copy, the file is locked, so screenshot the page and OCR the image, or print it to a fresh PDF.

## First, work out which problem you have

Open the PDF and try to select a single word with your cursor. Watch what happens.

* **The word highlights cleanly.** The text is real, so the file is most likely **locked**: password protected or set to block copying. Skip to the locked section below.
* **Nothing highlights, and your cursor just draws a box.** There is no selectable text at all. The page is a **scan**, an image of words, and you need OCR to read it.

This is the same fork we cover in the wider guide to [copying text from a PDF](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-pdf). Most PDFs are neither scanned nor locked and behave normally. These two are the awkward exceptions.

## How do you copy text from a scanned PDF?

A scanned PDF is what you get when someone runs paper through a scanner or photographs a page. To your eyes it reads as text. To the computer it is a flat image, with no letters inside it to select. The fix is **optical character recognition** (OCR), which looks at the shapes in the picture and works out the words they represent. Once OCR has run, you have real, copyable text.

### On Windows

If you have Microsoft 365, OneNote is the reliable route: paste the page image into OneNote, right-click it, and choose [**Copy Text from Picture**](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/onenote-help-and-learning/copy-text-from-pictures-and-file-printouts-using-ocr-in-onenote), which runs OCR on the image. Word can open a PDF, but for a scanned, image-only page it usually embeds the picture rather than reading the text, so OneNote is the better tool here. For a single page, a faster trick is to screenshot the part you need with the Snipping Tool, which has a [built-in text action](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots), or install Microsoft PowerToys and use **Text Extractor** (Win+Shift+T) to draw a box over any words on screen and copy them instantly.

### On Mac

Open the PDF in Preview. On recent macOS versions, Live Text reads scanned pages directly, so you can often select and copy straight from the document. If a page stays stubbornly unselectable, take a screenshot (Cmd+Shift+4), open the image in Preview, and Live Text will pick up the words there.

### Free online OCR

Plenty of sites convert a scanned PDF to text in your browser. They work, but think before you upload. A scanned contract, medical letter, or bank statement is exactly the kind of document you do not want sitting on a stranger’s server. For anything sensitive, stick to the tools already on your device.

A quick quality tip: OCR is only as good as the scan. If the result comes out garbled, rescan at around 300 dpi, straighten a skewed page, and make sure the contrast is strong. Clean input gives clean text.

## What if the PDF is locked and blocks copying?

A locked PDF is the opposite situation. The text is real and selectable, but the file has restrictions that stop you copying it, sometimes alongside a password to open it at all. This is a permission setting baked into the document, not a fault on your machine.

If you can open and read the file but not copy from it, work through these options, ordered by how little they touch the original.

* **Screenshot and OCR it.** The restriction blocks copying, not viewing. Screenshot the page and run the image through any of the OCR tools above. This sidesteps the lock without altering the file, and it is usually the quickest option for a page or two.
* **Print to PDF.** Open the file, choose Print, and pick **Microsoft Print to PDF** (Windows) or **Save as PDF** (Mac). The new copy often drops the copy restriction. Note this only works if the file lets you print.
* **Use the owner password, if it is yours.** If you set the protection, or have the password, open the PDF in a proper editor and remove the restriction at the source. That is the clean fix for your own documents.

Pull text once, keep it forever.

The slow part is doing this twice for the same document. Relic runs [on-device OCR](https://relic.space/technology) on everything you screenshot, so the text inside that scan becomes searchable the moment you capture it, encrypted and saved for good. Copy a page once and you can find it by its words months later, without opening the PDF again.

[Download forWindows](https://relic.space/download/windows)[Download formacOS](https://relic.space/download/macos)[Download forLinux](https://relic.space/download/linux)[Download forAndroid](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=relic.space.app&referrer=utm%5Fsource%3Drelic.space%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dwebsite%26utm%5Fcampaign%3Dcontent)[Download foriPhone](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/relic-clipboard-vault/id6800556025)

## Can you do this faster on your phone?

If the PDF lives on your phone, or you can get it there, the built-in text readers are genuinely the fastest path and they do not care whether the file is scanned or locked, because they read the screen as an image.

* **iPhone.** Open the PDF, screenshot the page, then open the screenshot in Photos. Tap the [Live Text icon](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/interact-with-content-in-a-photo-or-video-iph37fdd714b/ios) in the corner, and you can select and copy any words on the page.
* **Android.** Open the PDF, then use **Circle to Search** or open the screenshot in Google Lens. Lens reads the text and offers a Copy button that drops it on your clipboard.

This is the same approach as [copying text from any picture](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-picture), just pointed at a PDF page. For the full set of methods across every device, including normal PDFs and plain images, the [guide to copying text from an image, screenshot or PDF](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-an-image-or-pdf) covers the lot.

## A note on doing this respectfully

OCR and screenshots route around technical blocks, not legal ones. Copying text from a document you own, or have permission to use, for your own notes and reference is normal and fine. Copy protection on a paid book or a licensed report is there on purpose, and stripping it to share the work is a different matter. A fair rule of thumb: take what you need for your own use, and respect the terms the file came with.

## Sources

* [Copy text from pictures and file printouts using OCR in OneNote](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/onenote-help-and-learning/copy-text-from-pictures-and-file-printouts-using-ocr-in-onenote), Microsoft Support
* [Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots), Microsoft Support
* [Use Live Text to interact with content in a photo or video on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/interact-with-content-in-a-photo-or-video-iph37fdd714b/ios), Apple Support
* [Convert PDF and photo files to text](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/176692), Google Drive Help

JG

Written by

[Jordan Gibbs](https://relic.space/authors/jordan-gibbs)Founder, Relic

Jordan Gibbs is the founder of Relic, an end-to-end encrypted, permanent, searchable memory for everything you copy. He writes widely about AI, agents, and practical tooling on Medium, where he is read by tens of thousands, and builds privacy-first software. Here he covers how everyday tools like the clipboard actually work, and how to use them without handing your data to someone else.

[Medium](https://medium.com/@jordan%5Fgibbs)[GitHub](https://github.com/jordan-gibbs)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan--gibbs/)

Part of

[Copying text from images and PDFs](https://relic.space/blog/topics/copy-from-images)
* [How to copy text from an image, screenshot or PDF· pillar](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-an-image-or-pdf)
* [Snipping Tool for Mac: what to use instead](https://relic.space/blog/snipping-tool-for-mac)
* [How to copy text from a PDF](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-pdf)
* [How to copy text from a picture](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-picture)
* [How to extract text from a screenshot](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-extract-text-from-a-screenshot)

Keep reading

[Pillar·8 minHow to copy text from an image, screenshot or PDFText trapped in a picture or a flattened PDF is not really stuck. Optical character recognition can lift it out on any device, including scans that refuse to select.Read ](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-an-image-or-pdf)[7 minSnipping Tool for Mac: what to use insteadSnipping Tool is Windows only, but every Mac has its own version built in. The shortcuts, the Screenshot app, screen recording, and what each Snipping Tool feature is called on a Mac.Read ](https://relic.space/blog/snipping-tool-for-mac)[8 minHow to copy text from a PDFA normal PDF lets you select and copy like any document. A scanned or locked one needs a different approach. Both kinds handled, on desktop and phone.Read ](https://relic.space/blog/how-to-copy-text-from-a-pdf)

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