Convert PDF to plain text
Pull the words out of a PDF for search, quoting, translation or feeding into another tool — without copy-pasting page by page.
Drop a PDF file here
Free · no signup · no watermark · files stay on this device · how local processing works
How to use PDF to text
- Open the PDFAny PDF with a text layer works instantly.
- ExtractText from every page is collected, with optional “— page N —” markers.
- Copy or saveRead it in the preview box or download the .txt file (UTF-8).
Where the text comes from
Digitally created PDFs contain real characters with positions. This tool reads them in order with line breaks where the PDF marks the end of a line. Multi-column layouts come out column by column in most cases, though complex magazine layouts can interleave.
Scanned documents
A scan is a picture of text with no characters inside. If the result is empty, run OCR PDF first — it recognizes the words and adds a text layer — then extract again.
What to do with the text
The plain-text output is ideal for pasting into a translation tool, a word counter, a search index or a spreadsheet. Pages are separated by a blank line and, unless you untick the option, a “— page N —” marker, so you can still tell where each page started. If the file is a scan and the text comes out empty, run OCR PDF first and then extract the text from the OCR’d copy.
Questions about PDF to text
Does it keep formatting?
No — output is plain text. Line breaks are kept; fonts, bold and tables are not.
Why are some characters wrong?
Some PDFs embed fonts without a proper character map, so the visible glyph doesn’t map back to a letter. OCR is the workaround.
Which encoding is the .txt file?
UTF-8, which every modern editor opens correctly.
Can I extract text from only some pages?
The tool exports the whole document. To limit it, run Extract pages first and convert the smaller file.
Is there a size limit?
Only your device’s memory. Text extraction is light, so documents with hundreds of pages normally finish in seconds; the progress bar shows which page is being read.