PDF to Text Converter
Turn a PDF into plain text in your browser: every page in reading order, columns and paragraphs kept. Copy it or save a .txt file. Nothing is uploaded.
Each line as it is on the page, with a blank line between paragraphs.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded.
How to use
This tool takes the text out of a PDF, page by page, and gives it to you as plain text to copy or save.
- Add the PDF: drop it on the box or choose it. If it needs a password, type it; it's only used here.
- The text is read straight away, and the number of words is shown. A long PDF takes a few seconds; press Stop to keep what's been read so far.
- Choose how Line breaks come out. As in the PDF keeps each line as it is on the page. Joined into paragraphs joins the lines of each paragraph, so it pastes well into a document or an email, and puts back words that were split by a hyphen at the end of a line.
- Turn on Mark where each page starts to put a line such as "--- Page 3 ---" before each page.
- Press Copy text, or Download .txt for one file. One file a page saves a ZIP with a text file for each page.
A PDF places each piece of text at a spot on the page and doesn't say what order it's read in, so the order is worked out from the layout: headings first, then columns one at a time, top to bottom. A table's rows stay on their own lines, with a tab between columns, so they paste into a spreadsheet.
Pages that are pictures, such as scans and photos of documents, have no text to take out. The tool names those pages. Reading them needs OCR (text recognition), which this tool doesn't do.
Frequently asked questions
Why is some of the text missing or garbled?
Text that is part of a picture, as in a scan, isn't text to the PDF, so there's nothing to read. Garbled letters come from PDFs whose fonts don't say which letter each shape is; copying from any reader gives the same result.
Does it keep the formatting?
It keeps the reading order, paragraphs, lists and table rows, but not fonts, bold, colours or pictures. The result is plain text that any program can open.
Is my PDF uploaded to read it?
No. The PDF is read in your browser on your device, and the text never leaves it. Even a password, if the file needs one, stays on the page.
Related tools
- PDF to JPG converter Turn the pages of a PDF into JPG or PNG images at 72, 150 or 300 DPI or your own.
- Word counter Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type.
- Split PDF Split a PDF into several files by page ranges, every page or every few pages, or take out the pages you choose.
More PDF tools
- Merge PDF Combine PDF files into one in your browser.
- Rotate PDF Turn all the pages of a PDF, or only some, and save it that way.
- Delete and reorder PDF pages Delete pages from a PDF, put them in a new order, turn, duplicate or add blank pages, then save.
- JPG to PDF converter Put JPG, PNG, HEIC and other images into one PDF, a page each, on A4, Letter or pages that fit them.
- Compress PDF Make PDFs smaller by shrinking and recompressing their photos, with text left sharp.
- Password protect PDF Add a password to a PDF, encrypted with AES-256, and limit printing, copying and editing if you like.
- Add page numbers to PDF Number the pages of a PDF in your browser.
- Watermark PDF Add a text or logo watermark to a PDF in your browser: any language, any colour, in the centre, a corner or across the page.
- Sign PDF Sign a PDF in your browser: draw, type or photograph your signature, place it on the page, and add the date or initials.
- Crop PDF Crop PDF pages in your browser: drag a box or type margins, crop odd and even pages apart, or remove white margins in one go.
- Edit PDF metadata See and change a PDF's title, author, subject, keywords, dates and language in your browser, or remove them all.
- Unlock PDF Remove the password from a PDF you can open, or the limits on printing and copying, in your browser.