Could not access the recognition service when attempting OCR on Windows

Acrobat could not access the recognition service when attempting OCR on Windows

When you attempt to apply optical character recognition (OCR) to a file, you receive the error message, "Acrobat could not access the recognition service because: unable to locate the paper capture recognition service."

Error message - could not access the recognition service

To resolve the problem, follow the steps below.

Go to the location:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\<Acrobat Version>\Acrobat\plug_ins\PaperCapture\iDRS15

For example, for Acrobat DC, go to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\plug_ins\PaperCapture\iDRS15

Copy all the files in the folder.

Go to the following location and paste the copied files:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\<Acrobat Version>\Acrobat\plug_ins\PaperCapture

Go to the location mentioned in Step 1, and copy all the files again.

Go to the following location and paste the copied files:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\<Acrobat Version>\Acrobat\plug_ins

You can also try running OCR using the Enhanced Scans tool and then from the Edit PDF tool. (You can select the tools from the right panel in Acrobat.)

Twitter™ and Facebook posts are not covered under the terms of Creative Commons.

Legal Notices | Online Privacy Policy

Acrobat could not access the recognition service when attempting OCR on Windows

Problem: Could not access the recognition service

Workaround

Ask the Community

Contact Us