PDF to text converter
This PDF to text tool works on documents with real text. If you can't select the words in your PDF, it's a scan, and this won't help yet.
Drop your file here
Pick your file
Accepted: .pdf. Up to 300 MB per file.
Your files stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
How to convert PDF to text
- Add your PDF.
- Leave Pages empty for the whole file, or pick the pages you need.
- Press Start and download the .txt file.
When PDF to text is the right tool
Use it when you only want the words: to search them, paste them into an email, or feed them into another app. Line breaks follow the PDF, and pages are separated by a blank line. Bold, headings and pictures are dropped.
Check whether your PDF has real text
Open the PDF and try to select a sentence. If you can highlight the words, this tool will work. If the whole page highlights like a picture, it's a scan, and you'd need OCR, which we don't offer yet. You'll see a clear message rather than an empty file.
Formats and limits
Any standard PDF up to 300 MB works, or 100 MB on a phone. Text in columns can come out mixed together, because the tool follows the order stored in the file.
Questions people ask
Does it keep tables?
Table text is extracted, but the columns won't line up.
Can it read Arabic or other languages?
Yes, if the PDF stores real text. The result is saved as UTF-8.
Why are some words broken up?
Some PDFs store letters in odd pieces. That comes from how the file was made.