PDF to Text
Extract the text from a PDF, page by page, and copy or download it.
Drop PDFs here
One or several — the same settings apply to each file
Files are processed on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
How to use PDF to Text
- Add a PDF.
- Choose whether to mark page breaks and join lines into paragraphs.
- Select Extract text, then copy it or download a .txt file.
How it works
Text is read with Mozilla pdf.js and rebuilt line by line from the positions of the text pieces on each page. With "Join lines into paragraphs", single line breaks inside paragraphs are removed, which helps when pasting into another document.
Scanned PDFs contain pictures of text, not text, so nothing can be extracted from them without OCR (optical character recognition). If a page returns no text, that page is probably a scan; the tool tells you which pages had none.
Frequently asked questions
Why is no text extracted?
The PDF is probably scanned (an image of each page). Text extraction needs real text in the file; OCR software can recognise text in images.
Why is the order of columns mixed up?
PDFs store text by position, not reading order. Multi-column layouts may come out interleaved; check the result.
Is formatting kept?
No. Only plain text is extracted, without fonts, bold or tables.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No.
Limitations
- No OCR: scanned pages return no text.
- Complex layouts (columns, tables) may come out in an unexpected order.
- Password-protected PDFs are refused with an explanation; remove the protection first.
Last reviewed November 9, 2026. How we build and test tools.