How to Turn a Scanned Document

Into Microsoft Word Document

If you have Word 2007 or a more recent version, you can use it to edit scanned text,
which is much faster than typing the whole thing from scratch. To enable this feature
and convert a scanned document to editable text, follow these steps.
Method

Enable Document Imaging

1.

1
Find a list of your installed programs in the Control Panel.
Windows 7 or Vista: Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and

Features.
Windows XP: Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Remove

a Program.

2
Select your Microsoft Office edition, then click Change. Your version of Word might
be in a Microsoft Office pack or it might just be called Microsoft Office Word.

3
Click Add or Remove Features, and then click Continue.

4
Expand Office Tools, then click on Microsoft Office Document Imaging and
select Run all from my Computer.

5
Click Continue, then wait for configuration to complete.
Method

Convert a Scanned Document to Editable Text

1.

Scan and/or open the document with Paint. If scanning, follow the sub-steps below.
Otherwise, simply open the scanned image with Paint and skip to Step 2.

Go to File > From Scanner or Camera to initiate scan if necessary.

Choose the settings that best fit your document and hit Scan. Since you
are primarily interested in the text, Black and white picture or text is probably best.

2
Go to File > Save or Save As as necessary.

3
Select TIFF from the drop-down list and hit Save. You can now close Paint if you
want.

4
Open Microsoft Office Document Imaging. Go to Start > All Programs > Microsoft
Office > Microsoft Office Tools and select it from the list, or simply do a search for
microsoft office document imaging.

5
Open the .tiff file. Simply go to File > Open and locate the file you saved.

6
Hit CTRL+A to select all and CTRL+C to copy. This will initialize text recognition.

7
Open a blank Word document and hit CTRL+V to paste.

8
Correct misspellings as necessary.

Community Q&A

Will everything I scan become editable?

wikiHow Contributor

Indeed, it will. Just follow these simple steps: Go to onlineocr.net or if your file is more
than 5mb, use you can use pdf2doc.com. Upload your file to these websites. When the
file get uploaded, select doc or docx format and click 'Convert'. It is a time-consuming
process, especially if your file size is big. The moment it completes the conversion, click
download the file. After downloading the file, go to your downloads and open the file
which will automatically in MS Word. Now here you can edit your file and use it your
way.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 13 Helpful 7

I followed the instructions for enabling document imaging in Word 2007,

but did not find the imaging program listed under Microsoft Office Tools, then
what went wrong, and how can I do it correctly?
wikiHow Contributor

Microsoft (for some reason) didn't enable document imaging in Word 2007 for 64-bit
computers.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 5 Helpful 3

Does anything here cost money? Is there any chance of getting a virus on
my computer while downloading these things?
wikiHow Contributor

Some cost money, some don't. The free ones run a risk of infection, but you should have
an anti-virus program installed anyway.
Flag as duplicate
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0

Unanswered Questions

How can I edit in Microsoft Word without Microsoft Office Imaging?

Answer this question Flag as...

What program will scan a document and make it writable?

Answer this question Flag as...

How do I convert an image with a table?

Answer this question Flag as...

How do I load a photo onto my computer so I can sent it to someone in an

email?
Answer this question Flag as...

What do I do for a picture drivers license? It will not copy or paste.

Answer this question Flag as...

Show more unanswered questions

Ask a Question
Submit

Tips
Plain scanned text converts much better than forms (containing boxes and the

like), which lose their formatting.

Video
Related wikiHows

Edit

How to

Scan Documents Into PDF

How to

Edit a Scanned Document

How to

Scan Documents

How to

Scan a Poem

How to

Edit Text After Scanning

How to

Digitally Scan 35mm Slides

How to

Create and Install Symbols on Microsoft Word

How to

Create Jpeg Files from Microsoft Word

How to

Scan a Page to PDF With Android

How to

Be Able to Edit Microsoft Office Documents in Google Drive

Article Info
Categories: Microsoft Word
In other languages:
Italiano: Convertire un Documento Digitalizzato in un Documento di Microsoft
Word, Espaol: pasar a Word un documento escaneado, Deutsch: Einen Scan in ein
Word Dokument umwandeln, Portugus: Transformar um Arquivo Digitalizado num
Documento do Word, : Microsoft Word , :
Microsoft Word, Franais: transformer un document scann en
document Word, Nederlands: Van een scan een Word document maken, Bahasa
Indonesia: Mengubah Dokumen Hasil Scan Ke File Microsoft Word

Discuss

Print

Email

Edit

Send fan mail to authors

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,713,855 times.
Did this article help you?

Yes No