Settings

Settings are organized into five tabs: Appearance, Search, Sharing, Integrations, and Performance. Open settings via PDF Content Search → Settings (⌘,).

Appearance

Theme

Appearance: Dark, Light, or automatic (system setting)

Path Bar & Status Display

Show path bar: Shows the location of the selected document at the bottom
Status display: Progress/activity indicator at the bottom
Always show status display: Keeps the status display visible even when no processing is active

Transcript

OCR text selection color: Color for text selection in the transcript panel (with color picker)
Show transcript item numbers: Numbers each recognized text block
Auto-toggle transcript: Automatically shows/hides the transcript panel
Reset transcript on close: Removes all transcript entries when the app is closed

List View

Indicator for unprocessed files: Shows a badge on files not yet OCR-processed
Show processing sheet: Displays a progress dialog during OCR processing
Show path in list header: Shows the folder path in the file list header
Show file type icons: Displays icons for the file type (PDF, image, text, etc.)
Thumbnails in list view: Shows small preview images next to file names

Colors

Accent color: The primary color of the app interface (buttons, selections, sliders, etc.)
Text color: Optionally set a custom text color
Reset all colors to default: Resets all color settings to their factory defaults

Search

Start search after X characters: Sets how many characters trigger the search (1–5, default: 3)
Colored search results: Highlights matches in the document preview (color customizable)
Animate search results: Visual highlighting (pulsing) of matches with separate animation color
Scale animation: Briefly enlarges animated search results for better visibility
Limit number of search results: Speeds up search (25, 100, 250, 500, 1000, or unlimited)
Checkbox for edited items: Mark reviewed search results with customizable background color

Each added folder can be individually shared for iOS synchronization. Toggle the switch next to the desired folder to enable sharing.

Connect iOS Device (Pairing)

Open the iOS app PDF Cnt Search on your iPhone or iPad
The iOS app displays a 9-digit pairing code
Enter this code in the input field next to the shared folder and click Connect
After a successful connection, the device appears in the list of connected devices

Manage Connected Devices

Below each shared folder, connected iOS devices are shown with their name and connection date. Use the ✕ button to remove a device and revoke its access.

Show recent scan items: Shows recently scanned files from the iOS app in the sidebar
Download Scanner App: QR code and link to download the iOS app from the App Store
Show trashed items: Opens the folder containing files deleted via the iOS app

Performance

Processing

Low resolution images: Saves disk space but reduces OCR accuracy
Ignore small images: Skips very small images during OCR processing (e.g., icons or logos)
Slow hard drive mode: Reduces concurrent read/write operations for slower storage media

Cloud Service

The cloud service can be enabled for processing Office documents (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Word, Excel). The cloud service conditions must be accepted before activation. For failed cloud processing items, use the "Retry Failed Cloud Items" option in the folder's context menu in the sidebar.

App Data Folder

By default, the app stores the search index in the app container. Use App Data Folder to choose an alternative storage location (e.g., an external hard drive). A restart is required after changing this setting.

Integrations

The Integrations tab configures the built-in REST API server and the connection to AI assistants via MCP. Up to version 1.18 these options lived under the Performance tab.

API Server

Enable server: Starts the API server (requires app restart)
Port: TCP port for the server (default: 44477, range: 1024–65535)
Allow access from local network: Binds the server to 0.0.0.0 so it can be reached from other devices on your LAN. When disabled, the server only listens on 127.0.0.1 (localhost). Changing this requires an app restart.
Bearer token: Authentication token for API requests. Can be generated and copied via the "Generate" button
Open API documentation: Opens the interactive API documentation in the browser (only when server is running)

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

The MCP section shows the connection status and endpoint URL as soon as the API server is running.

Set up Claude Desktop: Automatically adds the app to claude_desktop_config.json, enables the API server, generates a token, and installs the helper binary pdf-content-search-mcp as a stdio bridge.
Configuration snippet for other MCP clients…: Provides both an HTTP and a stdio configuration snippet. Other clients such as Claude Code that support HTTP/SSE can also talk to the server directly.