Does my file get uploaded?

No. The text is extracted entirely in your browser, on your own device. The PDF never leaves your computer and never reaches a server.

Does it work on scanned PDFs?

Only if the scan has a text layer. This tool reads the text a PDF already carries — it does not do OCR. A pure scan is a photo of a page with no text in it, and you'll be told that plainly rather than handed an empty file. For those, use our OCR PDF tool, which reads text from the image itself and also runs entirely in your browser.

What exactly do I get?

Plain text. Line breaks come from the PDF's own layout, and pages follow one another in order, separated by a blank line. Fonts, colours, columns, tables, and exact spacing are not preserved — this is the words, not the design. For an editable document that keeps headings and bold, use PDF to Word or PDF to Markdown instead.

Can I copy the text instead of downloading a file?

Yes. The extracted text is shown on the page with a Copy button, next to the page count and the exact character count read from the output itself. Download the .txt only if you want the file.

Is there a page or size limit?

No fixed limit. Pages are read one at a time and only the assembled text is held in memory, so a long document costs little more than a short one. Reading a text layer is far cheaper than rendering pages to images.

What if the PDF is password-protected or damaged?

You get a specific message saying which it is — a password-protected PDF asks you to remove the password and try again, an unreadable one says it isn't a valid PDF. You will never get a silent empty download.

PDF Tools

PDF to Text

Pull the text out of a PDF and copy it or save it as a .txt file — entirely in your browser. Reading order, line breaks, and page breaks are preserved. The file is never uploaded. No account, no email.

Frequently asked questions

Does my file get uploaded?: No. The text is extracted entirely in your browser, on your own device. The PDF never leaves your computer and never reaches a server.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?: Only if the scan has a text layer. This tool reads the text a PDF already carries — it does not do OCR. A pure scan is a photo of a page with no text in it, and you'll be told that plainly rather than handed an empty file. For those, use our OCR PDF tool, which reads text from the image itself and also runs entirely in your browser.
What exactly do I get?: Plain text. Line breaks come from the PDF's own layout, and pages follow one another in order, separated by a blank line. Fonts, colours, columns, tables, and exact spacing are not preserved — this is the words, not the design. For an editable document that keeps headings and bold, use PDF to Word or PDF to Markdown instead.
Can I copy the text instead of downloading a file?: Yes. The extracted text is shown on the page with a Copy button, next to the page count and the exact character count read from the output itself. Download the .txt only if you want the file.
Is there a page or size limit?: No fixed limit. Pages are read one at a time and only the assembled text is held in memory, so a long document costs little more than a short one. Reading a text layer is far cheaper than rendering pages to images.
What if the PDF is password-protected or damaged?: You get a specific message saying which it is — a password-protected PDF asks you to remove the password and try again, an unreadable one says it isn't a valid PDF. You will never get a silent empty download.

Frequently asked questions

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