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This is the #1 question, and it’s a macOS requirement, not a bug. macOS gates all third-party Finder-menu extensions behind a manual toggle, and no app can flip it programmatically. You do it once:

1. Launch RightClickOCR once from your Applications folder.
2. Open System Settings.
3. Go to General → Login Items & Extensions.
4. Scroll down to Extensions.
5. Click the ⓘ (info) button next to Finder.
6. Switch on RightClickOCR.

As a shortcut, the app’s onboarding screen has an “Open Extension Settings” button that jumps you straight to step 5.

After the toggle is on, right-click any scanned PDF in Finder and you’ll see Make Searchable (OCR). If you don’t, see the next question.

Finder sometimes needs a relaunch to pick up a newly enabled extension. To relaunch it:

1. Hold ⌥ Option and right-click (or Control-click) the Finder icon in the Dock.
2. Choose Relaunch.
3. Right-click your PDF again, and Make Searchable (OCR) should now be there.

Still missing? Double-check the toggle from the setup steps above is actually on (it occasionally reverts if the app was moved after first launch), then email us.

That’s macOS, not you. The system hides third-party Finder menu items entirely in a few special locations, most notably Desktop and Documents. RightClickOCR ships a bundled Quick Action to cover exactly this case. To use it:

1. Right-click the PDF (or folder).
2. Open the Quick Actions submenu.
3. Choose Make Searchable (OCR).

It does exactly the same thing as the main menu command, with the same output and the same on-device processing.

A scanned PDF is a photograph of paper. The file contains pixels rather than text, so ⌘F, Spotlight, and Preview search find nothing.

RightClickOCR reads every page with Apple’s Vision framework and writes a new copy with an invisible text layer aligned underneath the page image. The page looks exactly the same to the eye, but the words underneath are now real text. You can search with ⌘F, find the document with Spotlight, select and copy quotes, and search inside Preview. Read the longer explanation in our guide on why ⌘F fails in scans.

Nothing is ever uploaded. OCR runs 100% on your Mac using Apple’s Vision framework, on your Mac’s own silicon.

This isn’t a policy promise; it’s architecture. There is no server component, no account system, no analytics SDK, and no telemetry. The app is sandboxed by macOS, which means the operating system itself blocks it from reading anything except the folders you approve. There is no code path by which your documents could leave the machine.

That’s the whole reason the app exists. It was built by a practicing attorney who couldn’t ethically upload privileged client documents to a cloud OCR service. See the privacy policy, which is short because there’s nothing to disclose.

Right-click a folder and choose Make Searchable (OCR). Every PDF inside is processed, and each gets its own “Name (Searchable).pdf” written beside its original. Non-PDF files are ignored.

You can open the RightClickOCR app if you want to watch activity, but you don’t need to. The work happens either way. For large batches (a discovery production, a year of client scans), see the batch OCR guide.

Yes. This is a hard rule in the app. RightClickOCR never modifies, overwrites, or re-saves your original file. It always writes a brand-new copy named “Name (Searchable).pdf” beside the original.

If a result ever looks wrong, delete the searchable copy and your original is exactly as it was. This matters for evidence, records, and anything where the file you received must stay byte-for-byte intact.

RightClickOCR is sandboxed. macOS blocks sandboxed apps from touching any file the user hasn’t explicitly approved. That’s a feature, and it’s part of why you can trust the privacy claims.

The first time you process a PDF in a given folder, macOS shows a Grant Access prompt. Approving it lets the app read the PDFs there and write the searchable copies beside them. The permission is remembered on your Mac using macOS security-scoped bookmarks, so it’s one-time per folder, which means you won’t be asked again for that location.

Nothing about this involves a network. It’s purely a local macOS permission, stored on your machine.

Yes to both.

• Crooked scans. Tilted pages are straightened (deskewed) automatically during recognition, so the text layer lines up even when the paper went through the scanner at an angle. Details in the deskew guide.
• Handwriting. Handwritten text such as meeting notes, file memos, and margin scribbles is recognized alongside print. See the handwriting guide for what to expect.

As with any OCR, very rough handwriting or very low-quality scans reduce accuracy. The page image itself is always preserved exactly as scanned.

RightClickOCR is sold through the Mac App Store, so Apple handles all purchases and refunds directly. Developers can’t issue App Store refunds themselves.

1. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com.
2. Sign in with the Apple Account you used to buy the app.
3. Find RightClickOCR and choose Request a refund.

Apple decides refund requests on its own criteria. That said, if something isn’t working, email us first. Most problems are the one-time extension toggle, and we’d rather fix your setup than lose you.