PDFConvertersOnline.comHow to extract text from a PDF
- Pick the PDF whose text you need, or drag it onto this page.
- Wait a moment while the text of every page is read and put back into lines.
- Copy the text to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file.
Get the words without the layout
Copying straight out of a PDF reader often goes wrong: lines break in odd places, columns get mixed up, and you have to select page after page. This tool reads the text of the whole document at once and rebuilds it into lines in reading order, so you can paste it into an email, a notes app, a spreadsheet or a translation tool in one go.
The result is plain text. Fonts, colors, images and table borders are left out on purpose. That makes the output easy to search, edit, count or feed into other software, and a .txt file opens on every device.
How the lines are put back together
Inside a PDF, text is stored as small pieces placed at exact positions on the page, not as sentences. The tool groups pieces that sit on the same line, orders them from left to right and adds spaces where there is a visible gap between words. A bigger vertical jump starts a new paragraph. This works well for letters, reports, contracts, invoices and ebooks.
Some layouts are harder. Text in two or three columns may come out one line at a time across the columns, and tables become rows of values separated by spaces. The words are all there, but you may need to tidy the order.
Options you can use
- Add page separators puts a short line such as ----- Page 3 ----- before each page, so you can tell where the pages began. Turn it off for one continuous text.
- A word and character count is shown above the text, handy for translation quotes or essay limits.
- Copy puts everything on your clipboard; Download .txt saves a UTF-8 text file named after your PDF.
Why some PDFs give no text
A scanned document or a photo saved as PDF contains pictures of letters, not letters. There is nothing for this tool to read, and it does not do OCR (text recognition). When a file has almost no text, you'll see a clear message instead of an empty box. You can still turn the pages into images with PDF to JPG for an OCR app.
Password-protected files need to be opened first: remove the password with Unlock PDF if you know it.
Private by design
Text extraction runs in your browser tab. The PDF isn't uploaded, so it is safe for contracts, medical letters or anything else you'd rather not hand to a website.
Frequently asked questions
Can it read scanned PDFs?
No. Scanned pages are images, and this tool doesn't recognize letters inside images (OCR). If a PDF has almost no real text, you'll see a message saying so.
Will tables and columns come out correctly?
The words will all be there, but tables turn into lines of values separated by spaces, and multi-column pages may mix the columns line by line. Simple one-column documents come out cleanest.
Does it keep bold, headings or images?
No. The output is plain text only. If you need the pages as pictures, use PDF to JPG instead.
Which languages does it support?
Any language whose text is stored as real characters in the PDF, including non-Latin scripts. The .txt file is saved as UTF-8 so special characters survive.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The text is read inside your browser and the file never leaves your device.