PDF to text pulls every word out of a PDF and saves it as a plain .txt file. If you've ever tried to copy a few pages from a PDF and ended up with broken lines, missing spaces or a selection that grabbed the wrong column, this is the simpler route. The tool keeps the layout roughly as it was, so paragraphs and line breaks stay close to the original.
Why you might want plain text
A .txt file has no fonts, no images and no formatting. All that's left is the words, which makes them easy to move somewhere else and easy to search.
Researchers and students extract text from PDF articles so they can search through them, quote from them, or paste passages into their own notes without dragging along odd formatting. Plain text pastes cleanly into almost anything: a Google Doc, an email, a notes app, a spreadsheet cell or a chat message.
Writers and editors use it to get the words out of a finished PDF when the source file is missing. Office staff use it to pull the content of contracts, reports or letters into another system that only accepts text.
It's also a good way to read a long PDF on a small phone screen. A text file wraps to fit any screen, so there's no zooming and sideways scrolling.
Some people use it for word counts too. Once the text is out of the PDF, any word processor will count it for you.
Converting a PDF to a .txt file
- Add your PDF. Tap "Select files" on a phone, or drag the file in on a computer.
- Add more PDFs if you have them. You can convert up to 30 at once.
- Start the conversion.
- Download the result. One PDF gives you one .txt file. Several PDFs come back as a ZIP with a text file for each.
There's nothing to set. Open the .txt file in any text editor, or copy text from the PDF output and paste it wherever you need it.
The one thing that trips people up: scanned PDFs
Some PDFs look like text but are really pictures. If a document was scanned on a copier or photographed with a phone and saved as a PDF, each page is an image. There are no actual letters stored in the file, so the PDF to text tool has nothing to extract and you'll get an empty or nearly empty result.
A quick way to tell: open the PDF and try to select a single word with your cursor or finger. If you can't select individual words, it's probably a scan.
The fix is to run the file through OCR PDF first. OCR reads the letters in the page images and adds a hidden text layer, and once that layer is there you can bring the new PDF back here and extract the text. OCR works best on clear, straight scans of printed text. Handwriting usually comes out poorly.
If what you have is a photo or screenshot rather than a PDF, Image to text reads the text straight from the picture.
What to expect from the output
The tool keeps the layout roughly, so most documents come out in a readable order with paragraphs where you'd expect them. A few things can still look a bit off:
- Multi-column pages, like newsletters or academic papers, may need some tidying, because two columns sitting side by side don't always translate neatly into one stream of text.
- Tables become rows of words and spaces, since a text file can't hold a real table.
- Headers, footers and page numbers are text too, so they'll appear in the output between pages.
- Images, charts and colours are dropped completely.
If you need the formatting as well as the words, PDF to Word gives you an editable document that keeps the layout.
Devices and limits
The tool works in your browser on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook. You don't install anything or sign up. Each upload can be up to 100 MB. Text takes up very little space, so even a .txt file from a long book-length PDF is usually small enough to email or keep on your phone.
What happens to your PDF
Your files are processed on our server and deleted as soon as the text file is sent back to you. We don't store or share them, and no branding is added to the output.
Frequently asked questions
How do I extract text from a PDF for free?
Upload the PDF on this page and download the .txt file that comes back. It's free, there's no account, and you can do up to 30 PDFs in one go.
Why is my text file empty?
Your PDF is most likely a scan, which means the pages are images with no real text inside. Run it through OCR PDF first, then convert the new file here.
Does it keep the formatting?
Only roughly. Line breaks and paragraph spacing are kept where possible, but fonts, bold text, images and tables aren't, because a .txt file can't hold them. For a formatted result, use PDF to Word instead.
Can I copy text from a PDF on my phone with this?
Yes. Open the page in your phone's browser, tap "Select files", pick the PDF and download the .txt file. You can then open it and copy whatever you need.
What program opens a .txt file?
Almost any. Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac, any notes app on a phone, Microsoft Word and Google Docs will all open it.
Is my document kept on your server?
No. It's deleted as soon as your text file has been sent back. Nothing is stored or shared.