Search Handwritten Notes

Drag in photos of your handwritten pages. OCR runs entirely in your browser — nothing leaves your device. Then search handwritten notes by keyword and export as plain text or searchable PDF.

1 — Add note photos

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Click or drag & drop images here
JPEG, PNG, WebP — multiple files OK

No files added yet. Add images above to begin.

2 — Search your notes

Add and process note photos above, then search here.

3 — Export archive

Export all recognized text from every processed note. PDF includes a thumbnail + the OCR text for each page.

How it works

Everything runs in your browser tab using Tesseract.js (the open-source OCR engine compiled to WebAssembly) and IndexedDB for local persistent storage.

Step 1 — Load imagesDrop JPEG/PNG photos of handwritten or printed pages. Files stay on your device.

Step 2 — OCR extractionTesseract.js reads each image pixel-by-pixel and produces a text transcript. Runs 100% offline after the WASM bundle is cached.

Step 3 — IndexedDB storageEach note's thumbnail + extracted text is saved in your browser's local database so it persists across page reloads.

Step 4 — Instant searchType any keyword; the archive is filtered in real time with highlighted matches. Results show a thumbnail and the matching text snippet.

Accuracy tip: photos taken flat, with good lighting and a steady hand produce the best results. Tilted or low-contrast images will have lower accuracy.

Frequently asked questions

Are my notes uploaded to a server?: No. Your images and the extracted text never leave your browser. OCR processing is done entirely on your device using WebAssembly (Tesseract.js), and notes are stored in your browser's IndexedDB — a local database on your own machine. There is no account, no login, and no server connection for your data.
What handwriting styles does this tool recognize?: Tesseract.js is trained on a large variety of handwriting and print styles. Neat, clear handwriting typically achieves good accuracy. Very cursive or stylized script may produce some errors. For best results, photograph notes in good lighting, hold the camera directly above the page (no tilt), and use a contrasting background. The recognized text is always shown in full so you can review it.
Do my notes survive if I close the tab?: Yes — recognized notes are stored in your browser's IndexedDB, which persists between sessions. They will remain available the next time you open this page in the same browser on the same device. Clearing your browser's site data will erase them, so use the PDF or TXT export to keep a permanent copy.
Can I search handwritten notes offline after the first load?: Once the Tesseract.js WebAssembly engine is cached by your browser, OCR and searching work offline. The initial page load requires an internet connection to download the WASM bundle (about 2 MB), but after that the tool runs fully offline.
How many notes can I store?: IndexedDB storage is limited only by your browser's disk quota — typically hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes. Thumbnails are stored as small compressed JPEGs, so you can keep thousands of pages in practice. If you hit a quota limit, delete some entries or export and clear the archive.