How to convert a PDF to plain text
Quick answer
Upload your PDF, click Extract text, and copy the plain text directly or download it as a .txt file. Real, selectable text converts directly; a scanned PDF has none to extract and needs OCR first.
- 1Upload your PDF.
- 2Click Extract text.
- 3Copy the text, or download it as .txt.
Free, no sign-up, and your file is read on your own device rather than uploaded.
Sometimes you do not want a Word document or a spreadsheet - you just want the actual words in a PDF, as plain text, to paste into an email, search through, or feed into something else that only wants raw content.
Whether that works depends on what kind of PDF you have. One built from a Word document, exported from a webpage, or saved from an app already has a real text layer - it is "searchable", meaning you can Ctrl+F through it, and this tool reads that text directly in your browser. A scanned PDF - a photograph or scanned image of a page - has no text layer at all, just a picture of words, so there is nothing to extract until OCR creates one.
"Searchable" is not the same as "editable", which is a common mix-up. A searchable PDF's text is real, but it is locked inside a fixed page layout. Extracting it as plain text, here, throws that layout away entirely and gives you back just the words; keeping a layout you can actually type into and reflow is a different job, done by PDF to Word.
Step by step
Upload your PDF
Read directly in your browser - you are told the page count and roughly how many words it contains.
PDF to Text
Tips
- If the PDF is a scan - a photograph or scanned image of a page - there is no real text in it to extract, and this tool will say so rather than returning nothing with no explanation. Run the OCR workspace on it first.
- For a document with headings, lists or tables you want to keep as structure rather than flatten into plain text, the same tool also offers a Markdown view.
- Plain text strips everything but the words - if you need the layout roughly preserved for editing, PDF to Word is the better fit.
Common problems
The extracted text came back empty.
The PDF is almost certainly a scan - a picture of a page rather than real text. Check with the PDF Inspector, then run the OCR workspace on it to get real text out.
Words from different columns are jumbled together.
A multi-column layout is read in a single flow by position, which can interleave columns on a complex page. There is no column-aware reading order in plain text extraction.
Examples
A contract exported from Word
You export a signed contract to PDF and need the text for an email. It is already searchable, so Extract text pulls the words out directly in a few seconds, ready to paste.
A scanned invoice from a supplier
A supplier emails a PDF that is actually a photo of a printed invoice. Extract text comes back empty because there is no text layer to read - run the OCR workspace on it first, then extract the real text it creates.
A two-column research paper
A PDF laid out in two columns is read top-to-bottom by position, not column by column, so the extracted text can interleave the left and right columns on a busy page. The Markdown view handles headings and paragraph breaks more predictably if that matters for your document.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get just the text out of a PDF?
- Upload it to the PDF to Text tool and click Extract text - you get the words in reading order, with no formatting, ready to copy or download as .txt.
- Why is the result empty?
- The PDF is almost certainly a scan with no real text to extract - check with the PDF Inspector, then run OCR on it to recover the text.
- What is the difference between a searchable PDF and an editable one?
- A searchable PDF has a real text layer, so you can select, search and extract its words - that is what this tool uses. An editable PDF additionally needs its layout turned into something you can type into and reflow, which is a different job handled by PDF to Word.
- Can I get Markdown instead of plain text?
- Yes - the same tool offers a Markdown view that keeps headings, lists and detected tables as real structure, alongside the plain text.
- Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
- No. The file is read and converted entirely in your browser.
Doing several things to this PDF?
"Editing a PDF" is usually one of five different jobs. Open the file once and you can do all of them in sequence - reorder the pages, mark it, number it, sign it and shrink it - then download once at the end.
How to edit a PDF without AcrobatRelated PDF tools
- PDF to TextPull the words out of a PDF as plain text or structured Markdown.
- OCR Text ExtractorUpload an image or a scanned PDF and get real, selectable text back - processed on your own device.
- PDF to WordTurn a PDF into an editable Word document, with tables and images.
Related articles
- Convert
How to convert a PDF to Markdown
Upload your PDF, click Extract text, and switch to the Markdown view. Headings come from font size, list items are recognised from bullets or numbers, and tables with clean columns become real Markdown tables - then download as .md.
- Convert
Can't copy text from a PDF? Here's why, and how to fix it
Usually one of two things: the PDF is a scan with no real text at all (needs OCR), or it has real text but your PDF viewer's selection is behaving oddly (upload it here instead and extract the text directly). Check the PDF Inspector if you are not sure which.
- OCR
How to extract text from a scanned PDF
Upload the scanned PDF to the OCR tool and choose PDF to Text. Each page is read in turn, and any page that already has real text is used directly rather than re-read - only pages that are genuinely scans get OCR.
Ready to do it?
Free, no sign-up, and nothing is uploaded to a server.