OwlOCR turns screenshots, images, scans, and PDFs into text you can copy, edit, export, and search.
OwlOCR 7 adds optional local AI OCR for the tough cases: messy screenshots, low-quality scans, dense layouts, and documents where Apple's built-in OCR needs another pass. Apple Vision remains available for fast on-device OCR with text boxes and searchable PDF export, while OCR AI runs a downloaded model on your Mac and returns clean page text.
Everything runs on-device. Your documents are not sent to an online AI service by OwlOCR.
Features:
- Grab any screen area and copy recognized text to the clipboard
- Open images and PDFs for page-by-page text recognition
- Export searchable PDFs with an invisible OCR text layer
- Use OCR AI locally for harder screenshots, scans, and layouts
- Scan barcodes and QR codes, then open links automatically
- Create searchable PDFs, text files, or clipboard text from Finder Quick Actions
- Capture multiple screenshots in one workflow
- Apply custom OCR words and post-processing rules
- Integrate OCR into automation with the OwlOCR command line tool
- Choose menu bar or Dock app behavior
- Dark Mode support and configurable keyboard shortcuts
Pro features include batch OCR for multipage PDFs and multiple documents, Finder Quick Actions on multiple files, higher multi-screenshot limits, post-processing rules, command line integrations, and OCR AI.
Privacy Policy - https://owlocr.com/privacypolicy
Terms of Use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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Great app but latest update introduced some issues
TikaKing_
OwlOCR Pro has been one of my favorite OCR tools on the Mac. Fast, accurate, and batch processing has saved me countless hours on large documents. The latest update seems to have introduced a few issues though. Both batch OCR and searchable PDF export get stuck on larger files. The helper process launches and initializes correctly and even processes the first page, but then stalls after an LSExceptions shared instance timeout and never produces output. Console logs also show a malformed App Store receipt for the helper bundle on every launch, which is likely contributing to the issue. Small files still work fine, but I used to process 1000+ page documents without any trouble. The OCR AI engine has a separate issue where it throws an EPERM error when trying to open a localhost socket for inter-process communication between the main app and its helper. That said, the OCR AI sandbox installation error from the same update was already patched surprisingly quickly. Hoping these remaining issues get the same treatment soon!
Just really buggy
jaydere
1) doesn’t work for big files anymore for some reason? 2) ocr ai doesn’t work. downloaded the model but it doesn’t load 3) the ocr quality is very subpar for non-english language. i might go for a refund because the app just doesn’t really work.
Command-line utility is broken, unable to reach for support
Julien_Allard
I bought OwlOCR in good part for the command-line utility. While it worked for a while, it now systematically throws an error. I've been trying to reach the support for over a month now without any feedback from their part. Pretty disappointing to say the least...Apart than that, the app is awesome 👍
Updated Review
ppneudd
I really like this app. I use it fairly often as it has many useful features. Also, I think the interface is well designed and I've been able to intuitively discover additional features like being able to extract the text text of a pdf without opening it.Previously I gave a negative review because when updating to the new version it was unclear how previous purchases would be supported, but the developer responded this concern.
Developer Response
Hello, you should be able to restore the pro subscription from v5 in v6
OCR AI now runs through a native Mac runtime for a smoother local OCR experience on messy scans, screenshots, and dense PDFs. Apple Vision remains available when you need fast text boxes and searchable PDF export.
Improved:
- Searchable PDF export now preserves original PDF content by default, with flattening available as an opt-in setting.
- Finder Quick Actions and App Group settings sync are more reliable in sandboxed Mac App Store builds.
- Mac App Store signing, minimum OS handling, and native helper packaging are cleaner for this release.
Fixed:
- Restoring OwlOCR Pro purchases is more reliable.
Version 7.4.0
The developer, JonLuca De Caro, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
