PDF to Text

Overview

Get the text out of a PDF as plain text. The tool reads it page by page with pdf.js, rebuilds the line breaks, and shows word and character counts. Copy the result or download a UTF-8 .txt file. It runs in your browser, so your document stays on your computer. If the PDF is a scan with no real text, the tool tells you, so you know to use OCR instead.

Quoting a documentGrab a passage from a report or article without retyping it.
Text for other toolsGet the text ready to paste into a translator, summariser or notes app.
Reusing contentPull the body text out of a PDF for a blog post, email or document.
Reading and searchingGet a plain-text version that's easy to search or read with a screen reader.
Pulling out dataExport the raw text of invoices or statements as a starting point for parsing.

Key features

Extracts all selectable text
Preview of the result
Copy, or download as .txt
Word and character counts
No upload, fully private

Set

PDF Tools 17

Neighbours

01 Add Page Numbers to PDF 02 Compress PDF 03 Delete PDF Pages 04 Extract PDF Pages 05 Fill and Sign PDF 06 JPG to PDF

Specification

Command: pdf.pdf_to_text
Set: PDF
Input: PDF
Output: PLAIN
Max file: 1GB
Batch: single file

Runtime

Engine: pdf-lib · pdf.js · qpdf-wasm
Threads: single
Isolated: —
WebGPU: —
Memory: —

Transport 0 B

Your file is opened, worked on and saved inside this tab. This tool has no upload step, so your file has nowhere else to go.

Keys

Search: ⌘K
Panels: ⌘1 · ⌘2
Full width: F
All keys: ⌘/

How it works

Open your PDF

Drop in a PDF and its text is read page by page.

Check the text

Read through the result, with word and character counts.

Copy or download

Copy the text or save it as a .txt file.

Frequently asked

Does this work on scanned PDFs?

Only if the PDF has real, selectable text. A scan is a picture of text, so you need an OCR tool for it. The tool tells you when it finds no text.

Is the layout preserved?

Line breaks are rebuilt from the text positions, so the result reads naturally. Columns and tables come out as plain running text, and pages stay separate.

Are my files uploaded?

No. The text is extracted in your browser with pdf.js, so your PDF stays on your computer. That makes it safe for confidential documents.

Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF?

Unlock it with the password first. After that, the text extracts as usual.

What encoding is the .txt file?

It's UTF-8, so accents and non-Latin scripts come through correctly.

Keys

Search: ⌘K
Panels: ⌘1 · ⌘2
Full width: F
All keys: ⌘/