Search text in photos and PDFs

Search within attachments to find records using text in photos, scanned images, and PDFs.

Search attachment text

Search covers attachments downloaded to your device. The attachments must be in a file field that hasn’t been deleted or visible in a note. Download attachments added on another device to the device where you want to search.

1. Open Search All Records from the collection list.
2. Enter words from the photo or PDF in the search field.
3. If Indexing Attachments… appears, wait for it to finish.
4. Review the text and file names in the results and open the matching record.

The search index is created automatically when a file is added or downloaded.

Check supported formats and limits

You can search text in images such as photos, PDFs, and text files. For PDF pages without text data, Clastly reads text from the image.

DOC, DOCX, and ODT aren’t supported. Audio and video transcription isn’t supported. Spotlight and shortcut searches don’t include attachment contents.

Search covers up to 100,000 characters per file. Text recognition from PDF page images covers up to 100 pages.

Find missing attachment text

If text isn’t found, make sure the file is on your device, uses a supported format, and isn’t in a deleted field. If you can’t retrieve the file, see Photos or files won’t open or download. If you purchased Clastly Pro but can’t use the feature, see Clastly Pro features aren’t available after purchase.