PDF to Text
Extract plain text from PDF documents instantly. Free, private, and runs entirely in your browser.
100% Private
Your PDF never leaves your device
Instant extraction
No waiting or server processing
Clean text output
Preserves reading order and paragraphs
Drop PDF here or click to browse
Supports PDF files up to 100MB
PDF to Text — Frequently Asked Questions
How does PDF to Text extraction work?
Our tool uses PDF.js to read the text layer embedded in your PDF file. It extracts all text content while preserving reading order, paragraph breaks, and page structure. The entire process happens in your browser — your file is never uploaded to any server.
Can I extract text from a scanned PDF?
This tool works with PDFs that have a text layer (digitally created PDFs, or scanned PDFs that have been OCR-processed). If your PDF is a pure image scan without OCR, the tool will detect this and let you know. In that case, you would need to run OCR on the PDF first.
Why can't I copy text from my PDF directly?
Some PDFs have copy protection, use custom fonts that don't map to standard characters, or contain text embedded as images. Our tool can extract text from PDFs with text layers even when manual copy-paste doesn't work correctly, handling font encoding issues automatically.
Is there a file size limit?
Since all processing happens in your browser, the limit depends on your device's available memory. Most devices can handle PDFs up to 100 MB without issues. Very large PDFs with hundreds of pages may take a moment to process.
What format is the extracted text?
The extracted text is plain UTF-8 text with paragraph breaks preserved. You can copy it to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file. If you need formatted output with headers and lists, try our PDF to Markdown tool instead.
How does PDF to Text extraction work?
Our tool uses PDF.js to read the text layer embedded in your PDF file. It extracts all text content while preserving reading order, paragraph breaks, and page structure. The entire process happens in your browser — your file is never uploaded to any server.
Can I extract text from a scanned PDF?
This tool works with PDFs that have a text layer (digitally created PDFs, or scanned PDFs that have been OCR-processed). If your PDF is a pure image scan without OCR, the tool will detect this and let you know. In that case, you would need to run OCR on the PDF first.
Why can't I copy text from my PDF directly?
Some PDFs have copy protection, use custom fonts that don't map to standard characters, or contain text embedded as images. Our tool can extract text from PDFs with text layers even when manual copy-paste doesn't work correctly, handling font encoding issues automatically.
Is there a file size limit?
Since all processing happens in your browser, the limit depends on your device's available memory. Most devices can handle PDFs up to 100 MB without issues. Very large PDFs with hundreds of pages may take a moment to process.
What format is the extracted text?
The extracted text is plain UTF-8 text with paragraph breaks preserved. You can copy it to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file. If you need formatted output with headers and lists, try our PDF to Markdown tool instead.