PDF to Text

Loading tool…

About PDF to Text

Drop a PDF and extract. The tool reads the existing text layer of every page and joins it into one box. You can edit the text, copy it, or download a .txt file. Word and character counts sit above the box.

Image-only scans have no text layer, so the box stays empty. This is not OCR. Newspaper columns may jumble. Tables come out as sequential text, not a spreadsheet. End-of-line hyphens may remain.

How to use PDF to Text

  1. 1Drop a PDF. Thumbnails load locally.
  2. 2Click Extract text. Every page's text layer is collected.
  3. 3Edit if you want. The box is editable. Counts update from what you see.
  4. 4Copy or download .txt. Use the word count to check the extract.

Limits and privacy

Text is read in this browser. The PDF is not uploaded. 25MB on a phone, 50MB on a desktop. Password-protected files cannot be opened. No account.

FAQs

Can I extract one page only?
Not on this page. It always reads the whole file. Use Extract Pages first if you need a shorter PDF, then extract text from that.
Why is the box empty?
The file has no text layer. That is typical of a scan. Use OCR software, then try again, or type from the image.
Will column layouts stay in order?
Reading order is best-effort. Newspaper-style columns can jumble.
Can I get a table as Excel?
Use PDF to Excel for a best-effort grid. This page is plain text.
Does the download include my edits?
Yes. Copy and Download .txt use the text in the box, including anything you typed after extract.