Offline · Runs on your computer · Windows, macOS, Linux
Find any sentence in a thousand PDFs. In milliseconds.
CavaPdf indexes the text inside your PDFs — including scanned pages — and answers in single-digit milliseconds. Nothing is uploaded. No account, no cloud, no waiting.
- Runs fully offline
- No account
- No telemetry
- Windows · macOS · Linux
Fast
Results before you finish typing
Every page of every PDF sits in a local full-text index. A search takes a few milliseconds, so the results change with each key you press.
- Single-digit milliseconds across thousands of pages
- Updates as you type, no Enter needed
- Prefix, exact and fuzzy matching
On a call and someone asks for the M12 bolt torque? Type “torque m12” and read it off page 212 while they’re still talking.
Smart search
Find it the way you remember it
Search by meaning finds pages about your question, even when they use different words. And typos still match: a misspelled word finds the right pages anyway.
- Search by meaning, downloaded once on request
- Typos still find the right pages
- Keyword and meaning results in one list
You remember “the bit about how hot the pipe can get”, not the phrase “maximum operating temperature”. Ask it the way you remember it.
Straight to the page
Opens on page 42, not page 1
Every hit shows the matching lines with your words highlighted. Click one and the page opens in the preview, or in your PDF viewer at that exact page.
- Highlighted snippets for every matching page
- Built-in preview with match highlights
- Opens your PDF viewer at the matched page
Skip the scroll-hunt through a 300-page standard. The clause you need is already on screen, highlighted.
Scanned pages
Even scans become searchable
Pages without a text layer are read with OCR that ships inside the app. It runs on your CPU in the background, and each page is read only once.
- OCR built into the app
- No upload, no API key, no GPU required
- Pause or resume OCR at any time
The contract someone signed and scanned, the 1987 site survey, the receipt saved as a photo PDF: all searchable next to everything else.
Always current
Save a PDF. Search it a second later.
CavaPdf watches your folders. New, edited, renamed and deleted files update the index on their own: text first, scans after.
- Real-time folder watching
- One background worker under a memory budget
- The dock shows what it is working on
Download an invoice from your email and it is in your results before you have switched windows.
Filters
Narrow a thousand hits down to three
Filter by when a file was modified or created, how many pages it has, its size, or its author. Filters stack with any search.
- Modified or created: 30 days, 1 year, 5 years
- Page count and file size ranges
- Author from the PDF’s metadata
David’s reports from the last year, not the 200 drafts that mention the same pump.
Private
Your files never leave the machine.
CavaPdf reads your PDFs straight from disk and keeps its index on your computer. There is no account, no sync service and no telemetry to switch off.
- No accounts, analytics or crash reports
- No document upload
- Only two optional requests: the search-by-meaning model, and a version check you opt in or out of on first launch
Works on a plane, inside a locked-down network, or on a laptop that has never been online.
Common questions
Can I search inside many PDFs at once?
Yes. CavaPdf indexes every page of every PDF in the folders you choose and searches them all at once. Results appear in a few milliseconds and each one opens at the matching page.
Is there a PDF search tool that works offline?
CavaPdf runs entirely on your computer. It needs no account, no internet connection and uploads nothing, so it works on a plane or on a locked-down network.
Can it search scanned PDFs?
Yes. Pages that are only images are read with built-in text recognition, locally, and become searchable as they finish. Text pages are searchable immediately.
Does it find a word if I misspell it or use a different phrase?
Yes. Typos still match, and an optional search-by-meaning mode finds pages that talk about the same thing in different words, for example "microcontroller datasheet".
Which systems does it run on?
Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon, and 64-bit Linux desktops. It is a portable download: unzip and run.
Is CavaPdf free?
Yes. It is free, has no paid tier and no ads. Optional donations keep it current with new operating system releases and fund requested features.
Does it send my documents or searches anywhere?
No. Your files and your index stay on your computer. There is no telemetry. The app only asks this website for the latest version number at startup, which you choose on first launch and can change in Settings.
CavaPdf is free and stays free
If it saves you an afternoon, you can buy the next one.
Support the projectDownload CavaPdf
Donations are voluntary and never unlock features.