Turn off / disable Convert to Text Option in Acrobat Pro DC

[Enlightened_worldview15A8]

Since the update on Acrobat to Pro DC, I keep having to click on Revert to Image, which would be fine but sometimes to revert to image, it undoes the changes I may have recently changed. The only workaround I found was to make changes on the picture (in Photoshop) then save the PDF, close it and reopen to make additional changes. I cannot stress this enough, I NEED the fonts to stay outlined so I don't get any errors when transferring postscripts from PC to Mac. And I'm talking about files that are exported from other programs, not scanned.

Anyone know how to disable the Convert to Text option?

[wfejessie]

Me too!!!!  I also need to revert back to XI because this is killing me.  I'm on subscription - how to I revert?

[ael93587601]

I would also like to see an option to disable the automatic convert to text.  Most times I just need to add a little text box and converting the page to text 1. is a waste of time and 2. often distorts my information thus resulting in converting almost every page back to an image.  The convert to text function works well, please just make an option to disable it when editing!

[capellae]

4 months passed, and it is still impossible to disable this shit. Why we hell I pay for the subscription if I cant off text recognition? Make it possible pls.

[Charlie Y]

This issue is frustrating me too. Being pre-press oriented, I very rarely need OCR for anything. Most often, I am extracting or editing images from PDFs. This automatic OCR thing is just like a pop-up ad for me - something in the way of my work. In fact, the new interface of Acrobat DC seems much less conducive to work. In the previous version, I had all my frequently used tools handy. Not so much now.

[XZ315]

I want to echo Charlie's sentiment about the tools layout redesign being horrendous.  This is a case of taking something that wasn't broken and trying to fix it. 

[XZ315]

Also, cropping is now terrible.  No one in their right mind would crop by sight and end up with a random page size.  If we're cropping, we want to crop to a specific size, so just cut right to the chase and open the crop dialog.  Or add rulers and snapping.  Really, this isn't rocket science. 

[Priyanja]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your patience. We understand that this is an annoying behaviour and therefore we have a solution for you. In the latest version of Acrobat DC, you can disable the "auto convert to text".

Just open any scanned PDF and click on Edit PDF. On first launch, Acrobat will convert the image to text. Now all you have to do is click on the 'Revert to Image' button on the Right Hand Pane. Acrobat now remembers this setting and will not convert any scanned document to text unless you change it from here.

[NHB42]

Many Many thanks for this simple but tricky tips!

[staceye84769006]

Cannot get to any of these prompts because as soon as my document opens in edit the recognition begins and then adobe shuts down as unresponsive.

[MichaelKazlow]

Make a scan of a trivial document. Turn of the OCR on this document. The setting is supposed to remembered for future documents.

[PMDigital_Teri]

THANK YOU. I agree with some others that I would like a clearer checkbox to turn this on and off rather than the more obscure sticky feature. But I will take this.

For me this is great. What I have to do with some problem files is convert everything to a high resolution TIFF file. Then sometime I want to edit the tif by cropping the page, deleting the image on a page, or opening it in Photoshop.

The auto-ocr when clicking on Edit PDF was a real pain, now this should help a lot.

[risharmaAdobe]

Welcome. For now, this will help you out of your misery. We will certainly think about Preferences option but until then I believe this sticky feature solves the issues for most of you.

Thanks

[davidhbrown]

Well, this sticky "setting" that isn't really a setting is better than nothing, but it seems like you're going out of your way to surprise and confuse users. If Acrobat DC (required for work) is anything like the CC apps, I'm going to be sticking with my CS6 Master Collection for a very, very long time.

By the way, I found this thread when I found I could no longer simply crop a page without going into this editing mode and having OCR performed. Both behaviors are annoying.

[agarwalp]

Priyanja:

Thanks this is helpful, but I am trying to do the opposite, so please advise on how to do so - I have a license for Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, latest version:

1. How do I have all documents I convert to PDF also OCR? i.e. as I print an MS Word to Web Page to PDF, I don't want to take an extra step to then open the document and "Edit Text" to OCR

2. I used to have an automatic popup appear in Acrobat DC when I tried to highlight a document, "Do you want to OCR." I turned it off.  How do I turn it back on?  This is a more acceptable workaround in case #1 is not available.

thanks,

Pankaj

[MichaelKazlow]

Pankaj, Most files printed to PDF do not OCR as they are already text, only images with sufficient resolution can be OCRd.

[CareerPhotographer]

Incorrect. My documents were printed to PDF, and every time I click anywhere on the document, it OCRs' the text. Extremely annoying and unacceptable for legal documents, that should NEVER be open to change. That means ANYONE with access to Acrobat can open my document, convert it to text, and then  change the content. That is nowhere close to acceptable. I will be looking for an alternative to Acrobat for sure. None of this is acceptable. This is a BUG not a FEATURE. Please fix this. 

[CareerPhotographer]

PS: You cannot convert an image to text with Acrobat. You seem to say that you can OCR an image, and that is not true. 

[AnandSri · Accepted solution]

Hello!

I hope you are doing well.

To disable the automatic conversion of scanned documents to editable text (OCR) in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, follow these steps:

• Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC:

  • Launch Adobe Acrobat and open your scanned document.​

• Access the 'Edit PDF' Tool:

  • Click on the "Tools" tab. 

  • Select "Edit PDF" from the available options.​

• Disable Automatic OCR:

  • In the right pane, locate and uncheck the "Recognize text" option. This prevents Acrobat from automatically running OCR on scanned documents in the future.

By unchecking the "Recognize text" option, Acrobat will no longer automatically convert scanned documents to editable text during editing. For more detailed information, refer to this help article: https://adobe.ly/4caFp5M

Also, please ensure you have the latest version of Acrobat installed, and check for any pending updates from the Menu > help > check for updates, install the updates, restart the app and the machine, and check. For more information, see this: https://adobe.ly/44adelt

If you wish to raise a feature request, please use this URL and submit it to the product team.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

[CareerPhotographer]

Hello:
Thanks for the email. Unfortunately, your instructions do not match what I
am seeing on the screen. I have attached screen captures of the areas that
you highlighted as settings to use to turn off the OCR.

I sent my query because the instructions just like you have sent me do not
work -- there is no OCR Setting or checkbox to unclick.

This part is correct in your instructions:

Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC:

Launch Adobe Acrobat and open your scanned document.

Access the 'Edit PDF' Tool:

Click on the "Tools" tab.
Select "Edit PDF" from the available options.

*The following part is incorrect. *I am left right where I was. (See screen
capture.)

--->>> NOT THERE *Disable Automatic OCR:*

*NO SUCH OPTION: In the right pane, locate and uncheck the "Recognize text"
option. *This prevents Acrobat from automatically running OCR on scanned
documents in the future. *Nope, not there.*

By unchecking the "Recognize text" option, Acrobat will no longer
automatically convert scanned documents to editable text during editing.
For more detailed information, refer to this help article:
https://adobe.ly/4caFp5M

*NO SELECTION FOR THIS*: Disable Automatic OCR:


Thanks for your help, but none of the instructions you sent are either
available, or work. I will try updating Acrobat. After that, I am going to
find a replacement for this application that is not Adobe.


It is ridiculous that I cannot turn off that "feature" so that no one can
edit my legal document. I attached a screen capture.


Diana Ost
[image: No OCR on Right Rail.jpg]

[AnandSri]

Hello!

Thank you for sharing the details. Could you please share or attach the screenshot in your reply, or upload it to a cloud storage and share the link with us? Also, what is the current version of the Acrobat installed? To identify, see this article: https://adobe.ly/43UhBkL

What's the version of the OS installed? Is this happening with one specific PDF or with all the PDFs? If it is specific to one PDF? Could you please share the file with us with other details request so that we can check at our end?

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[ESabin]

Adobe Acrobat was working fine until the latest upgrade. Now all my pages are scanned for recognizable text and images skewed, even WITH the "recognize text" box unchecked. The only workaround is to "undo" the scan, which then renders any images uneditable. With all my images being skewed by OCR, the software is unusable.

[AnandSri]

Hello @ESabin

I hope you're doing well, and we apologize for the delayed response and the trouble.

Does this occur with the latest version of Acrobat: 25.001.20630, scheduled update, Aug 18, 2025? Could you please check the current version of Acrobat installed and share a screenshot of the version details? Go to Menu(Windows)/Acrobat(Mac) > Help > About Acrobat. 

Also, open the scanned PDF without entering Edit PDF mode. Use the "Scan & OCR” tool separately, and turn off "recognize Text" explicitly there. 

If OCR is applied automatically, use Edit > Undo Recognize Text right away. This restores the original image but disables text editing.

If the issue continues, please provide the following information: the current version of the operating system on your device, the version of Acrobat installed, a quick screen recording, a sample PDF file, and the logs from the affected machine. To collect the logs, download and run the Log Collector tool. Make sure to select all log options and attempt to reproduce the issue. After that, close the Log Collector tool; it will generate the logs along with a log ID. Please share this log ID with us for further investigation.

Thanks,
Anand Sri | Acrobat Community Team
Meet Acrobat Studio

[CareerPhotographer]

There is no "Revert to Image" button on the right hand pane. Any other suggestions welcome. This is a legal document and I cannot let it stay as editable text. Thanks. 

[CareerPhotographer]

This did not work for me. I never found any "revert to image' on the sidebar. I am working on a legal document! I cannot be set up so that anyone with acrobat can change it to text and edit it. 

[keitht5]

I too have struggled with this issue since receiving Adobe Pro DC last spring in my print shop. I am happy to see an off switch was added, I needed it off this morning.