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Convert from PDF

Convert PDF to text

Get all the words from a PDF as a plain text file you can search, paste or process.

Drop a PDF here

or paste with Ctrl/⌘+V

Runs in your browser — files never leave your device. Free, no account.

PDF · up to 400 MB

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What it does

PDF to TXT, explained

PDF to TXT pulls the text out of a PDF and saves it as a plain .txt file in UTF-8, so any language and script is kept. It is useful for pasting into an email or CMS, feeding a script or search index, or checking what text a PDF actually contains.

Read more

A PDF stores text as positioned fragments, so order has to be reconstructed. Reading order mode joins lines into paragraphs and follows columns, which suits articles and reports. Keep layout mode adds spaces so text sits roughly where it does on the page, which suits tables and forms you want to read in a monospaced editor.

Plain text drops everything else: fonts, bold and italic, images, links and table borders. If you need structure, PDF to Word or PDF to CSV keep more of it.

Scanned pages are pictures and contain no text; they come out empty. Run OCR PDF first to add a text layer. Extraction runs in your browser, so the file is not uploaded and the result is free.

How to do it

Convert PDF to text in 4 steps

  1. 1Your PDF

  2. 2Convert

  3. 3The new format

  1. 1

    Upload the PDF

    Text-based PDFs work immediately. Pages without text are flagged as likely scans.

  2. 2

    Choose the mode

    Reading order for prose, Keep layout for tables and forms.

  3. 3

    Preview

    Scroll the extracted text page by page before saving.

  4. 4

    Download or copy

    Save a .txt file or copy all text to the clipboard.

Example

Before and after

Before

A 6-page two-column research article PDF with a header, page numbers and a references list.

After

A UTF-8 .txt file in reading order: left column then right column on each page, with a “--- Page 2 ---” separator line between pages.

Settings & formats

What you can control

Mode
Reading order (paragraphs, columns followed) or Keep layout (spacing approximates the page).
Page separators
None, a line with the page number, or a form-feed character between pages.
Line endings
LF for macOS, Linux and most tools, or CRLF for Windows Notepad and some legacy systems.
Pages
All pages or a range.

Input

PDF

Output

TXT (UTF-8)

Good to know before you start

  • Scanned pages produce no text until OCR has been run on them.
  • Headers, footers and page numbers are extracted along with body text; remove them afterward if you need clean prose.
  • Unusual layouts (text on curves, sidebars, text inside images) can come out in an unexpected order.
  • Some PDFs use fonts without a proper character mapping, which extracts as wrong or missing characters; OCR is the workaround.
If something goes wrong
The text file is empty or nearly empty
The PDF is scanned or image-based. Run OCR PDF, then convert again.
Columns are mixed together line by line
Switch to Reading order mode. If the page uses an unusual layout, try Keep layout and clean up by hand.
Characters look garbled
Open the file as UTF-8 in your editor. If the text is still wrong, the PDF's fonts lack a character map; run OCR PDF and convert the result.

PDF to TXT: questions people ask

Does PDF to TXT keep formatting?

No. Plain text has no fonts, bold, images or tables. Use PDF to Word to keep formatting.

Will it work on a scanned PDF?

Not directly; scans have no text layer. Run OCR PDF first, then extract the text.

What encoding is the file?

UTF-8, which supports every language. Most editors detect it automatically.

Is the PDF uploaded?

No. Text extraction runs in your browser.

Can I extract text from just a few pages?

Yes. Enter a page range before extracting.

Upload a PDF