PDF to text
Pull the real, selectable text out of a digital PDF — the whole document or a single page — then copy it or save a .txt. No OCR, no upload: the text is read straight from the file in your browser.
Open PDF to text →What is the PDF to text extractor?
A private, offline tool that pulls the real, selectable text out of a digital PDF — the whole document or a single page — then lets you copy it or save a .txt. There's no OCR and no upload: the text is read straight from the file in your browser, so nothing leaves your device.
How to use PDF to text
- Add your PDF — Drop a PDF onto the dropzone or click to choose one. The text is extracted in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
- Choose what to view — Use the View dropdown to show all pages or jump to a single page.
- Tune the output — Toggle Page markers to label where each page begins, and Reflow paragraphs to re-join wrapped lines into flowing paragraphs.
- Copy or download — Copy the extracted text to your clipboard, or save it as a .txt file named after your document.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The text is read entirely in your browser, so the file and its contents never leave your device. It also keeps working offline after the first load.
Does it use OCR?
No. It reads the PDF's existing, selectable text layer rather than recognising characters from an image. For scanned pages with no text layer, use the OCR tool instead.
What does 'Reflow paragraphs' do?
By default each line of the PDF is kept on its own line. Reflow re-joins wrapped lines into continuous paragraphs and de-hyphenates words split across line breaks, which is handy when you want flowing prose rather than the original line breaks.
Why is some of the extracted text garbled or full of boxes?
Some PDFs use a custom or subset font with a broken character map, so the page looks right but the underlying text is wrong. The tool warns you when this happens — the real characters can't be recovered from that text layer, so run the page images through OCR for accurate text.
Can it handle a single page only?
Yes. Pick the page you want from the View dropdown, and only that page's text is shown, copied or saved.
Tips
- Turn on Reflow paragraphs when you want flowing text rather than the PDF's original line breaks.
- Keep Page markers on for long documents so you can tell where each page starts.
- If the text comes out empty or garbled, the PDF is a scan or uses a broken font — try the OCR tool.