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PDF to Text

Pull the words out of a PDF into a plain text file you can search, edit, or paste anywhere.

Use PDF to Text (interactive) — JavaScript required for uploads.

How to use this tool

  1. Add your PDF
  2. Optionally limit it to certain pages
  3. Run the tool and download the .txt

What you get

One text file, with each page marked by a header so you can tell where the breaks were. Line breaks are inferred from the position of the text on the page.

Scanned PDFs will not work

If a PDF is a photo of a page, there is no text to extract — only an image. This tool tells you that instead of handing back an empty file. Recognising text in a scan needs OCR, which this tool does not do.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free?

Yes, completely free and with no account.

Why is my output empty?

The PDF is almost certainly a scan. The tool will say so rather than return a blank file.

Does it keep the layout?

No. You get reading-order text, not columns and tables. For structure, try PDF to HTML.

Runs in your browser

This tool works entirely on this page. Your file is opened by JavaScript here, changed in memory, and handed straight back to you — it is never uploaded. Open your browser's Network tab while you use it and you will see nothing leave your device.

Because there is no server doing the work, there is no signup, no watermark, no file size limit, and no daily cap. Nothing is stored, because nothing is received.

Related tools

Browse all free PDF tools, or read how we handle privacy and security.