About the PDF to Text
Pull all the text out of a PDF as plain text you can copy, search, paste into an email or feed into another app. Lines and paragraphs are kept, and each page can be marked so you know where the text came from.
The PDF is read in your browser with the same open-source engine Firefox uses to display PDFs, so the file isn't uploaded.
How it works
A PDF doesn't store paragraphs; it stores pieces of text with positions on the page. The tool reads those pieces, puts the ones at the same height on one line (left to right, or right to left for Arabic and Urdu), orders the lines from top to bottom and inserts a blank line where the gap between lines is clearly bigger than normal, which is how paragraphs usually look.
Scanned documents and photos of pages are just pictures, so they contain no text to extract. The tool tells you which pages had no text and points you to OCR, which recognises letters in images.
Assumptions and limits
- Layouts with two or more columns may be read across the columns line by line, because the PDF itself doesn't say where a column ends. Check the order, or copy one column at a time from a PDF viewer.
- Tables come out as lines of text with spaces between cells, not as a spreadsheet.
- Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first. Very large files are limited by your device's memory.
Worked examples
A report saved from a word processor
Documents exported from Word, Google Docs or similar apps have a real text layer, so headings, paragraphs and numbers come back as written, with a blank line between paragraphs.
A scanned contract
Every page is an image, so there's no text layer. The result tells you the PDF has no text and links to OCR PDF, which reads the letters from the scan.
A mixed file
If only some pages are scans, the text from the other pages is extracted and the page numbers without text are listed, so you know which pages to OCR.
How to use the PDF to Text
- Choose the PDF. Drag it onto the page or pick it from your files.
- Decide on page markers. Keep '--- Page 2 ---' markers or turn them off for one continuous text.
- Copy or download the text. Save it as a .txt file or copy it in one click.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the extracted text empty?
The PDF is probably a scan or a set of photos: it shows text, but stores only pictures of it. Use OCR PDF on this site, which recognises the letters in the images, and then copy the result.
Why are some words joined together or split oddly?
Some apps place each letter or word separately in the PDF, and the spacing has to be inferred from positions. The tool adds a space when the gap between pieces is wide enough, which works for normal text but can misjudge very tight or decorative fonts.
Does it keep formatting like bold, fonts or tables?
No. The result is plain text, so fonts, colours, images and table borders are dropped; only line and paragraph breaks are kept. To keep formatting, use PDF to Word instead and edit the document there.
Is the text in the right order for columns?
Single-column documents read in order. Two-column layouts, such as newsletters or academic papers, may come out with lines from both columns mixed together, because the PDF doesn't record where columns end.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read by your browser using pdf.js, and the text is created on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, so it's safe for private documents.
Sources
This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you enter or upload stays on your device and is never sent to our servers.