Make scanned receipts searchable on Mac
Oct 2, 2025
Make scanned receipts searchable on Mac
You remember the merchant or the amount, not the filename. Receipts live in scans, screenshots, and PDFs. Basic Mac search cannot read that content, so you end up scrolling. This guide shows how to make scanned receipts instantly searchable and open the exact page you need.
The pain in their words
“Most of my receipts are iPhone photos or scans. Search finds nothing.”
“I export a 300 page PDF of receipts. I need the one with 42.80 but I always land on page one.”
“At month end I just want to type the vendor and amount and jump to the proof.”
Why typical Mac tools fail for scans
Filename focus. Spotlight finds files, not text inside them.
No consistent OCR. Screenshots and photos are not reliably indexed.
Images inside PDFs are invisible. Multi page PDF exports often contain images that basic search cannot read.
No page precision. Even if you find a file, you still have to scroll.
What works instead, Fenn on Mac
Fenn is an AI powered file search engine for macOS. It reads text inside scans, screenshots, and images that are embedded in PDFs, then opens directly at the exact page or match. On device by default for privacy. Optional cloud indexing for speed and scale.
Step by step
Index your sources. Point Fenn at your receipts folder, downloads, and any PDF exports.
Search what you remember. Try a vendor name, an amount like “42.80,” a date, or “VAT 20 percent.”
Review the snippets. Fenn shows context from inside images and PDFs, so you can confirm before opening.
Open at the right spot. Hit Enter to land on the exact PDF page or the specific receipt image. No scrolling.
Why accountants and ops teams use Fenn
On device by default, privacy preserved.
Optional cloud indexing for faster results across larger sets, about 100 GB.
Optimized for macOS on Apple Silicon for speed.
Works across PDFs, images, Excel, audio, and video, with precise jumps to the page or frame or timestamp.
Mini case
Before, a finance lead spent 15 to 20 minutes per expense report. Receipts lived in mixed screenshots and a huge PDF export.
After, they typed “Uber 23.18” in Fenn and opened the export on the right page instantly. They searched the rest by merchant names in seconds and closed the report without losing focus.