PDF to Text
Extract all the text from a PDF into a plain .txt file: free, instant, and entirely in your browser.
Files processed in your browserSelect a PDF or drag & drop
One PDF, up to 100 MB
Your files never leave your device. PDF to Text runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded to a server. When you close this tab, your file is gone from memory.
How to pdf to text
- Select your PDF. Choose or drag in the PDF you want the text out of.
- Extract. Press Extract Text. The text is read from every page right in your browser.
- Download. Download the .txt file and use it anywhere. Nothing is uploaded.
Want more detail? Read our full guide: How to extract text from a PDF.
Why extract text from a PDF?
A PDF freezes words in place so they look identical everywhere, but that same rigidity makes the text hard to reuse. You cannot easily quote a paragraph, run a find-and-replace, count the words, or feed the content into another program. Extracting the raw text unlocks all of that: the .txt file you get back can be searched, edited, translated, or pasted wherever plain text is welcome.
That plain-text output is exactly what a growing number of workflows expect. A few common ones:
- Pasting a report or article into a chatbot or AI tool to summarise or ask questions about it.
- Pulling quotes and passages into a document, email or slide without fighting the PDF's formatting.
- Feeding the contents into a script for parsing, indexing or keyword analysis.
- Making a document's words searchable when the original is unwieldy to skim.
It is worth setting expectations about what "text" means here. The tool recovers the words and reconstructs lines and paragraphs, but it deliberately drops the visual design: columns, fonts, images, tables and page styling are not carried over. For searching and editing that is usually a feature, not a loss. One real limit: the PDF must contain actual selectable text. A scanned document is only a picture of words, so there is nothing to pull out, and you would need OCR (which this tool does not do) beforehand.
The reading and the file-building both happen inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded. Contracts, job applications and personal records are processed on your own machine and never touch a server.
Frequently asked questions
Are my files uploaded?
No. The PDF is read entirely in your browser and the text file is built locally. Your document never leaves your device.
Will the layout be preserved?
No. This extracts the text itself, not the design. Lines and paragraphs are reconstructed, but columns, fonts, images and styling are discarded. That's usually exactly what you want for searching, editing or feeding text into other tools.
My PDF is a scan. Will it work?
No. A scanned PDF is just an image with no selectable text, so there's nothing to extract. The tool will tell you if it finds no text. You'd need OCR (optical character recognition) first.
Is there a page limit?
Up to 200 pages, since all the work happens on your device.
What can I do with the text file?
Search it, edit it in any text editor, paste it into a document or an AI tool, translate it, or process it with a script. A plain .txt file works everywhere.