PDF to Text: Copy the Words Out
When the text only needs to be read by a machine, a text file beats a conversion: no layout to reconstruct, nothing to break.
What this tool does
Copies the selectable text out of a PDF into a plain text file, page after page, keeping the reading order the PDF declares.
How it works
Upload and download the .txt — no settings, no formatting decisions. If the file returns almost nothing, the pages are images: run OCR first, then extract. When the destination is a spreadsheet or a Word document, the dedicated converter keeps more structure.
- Choose the PDF, or drag it onto the page.
- Run the tool and download the result.
When to reach for it
- You need the words for a script or a search index. Plain text, in reading order.
- A document must be diffed against another. Text diffs are readable; PDF diffs are not.
Questions we get
Does the text keep its layout?
The words come back in reading order — perfect for quotes, searching and scripts. Tables built from real table text keep their structure; scanned pages need OCR first.
My PDF has no selectable text — now what?
That's a scan: the pages are pictures with no text layer. Run OCR first (in-browser, nothing uploaded for it) and the words become selectable — then extract again.
Where it fits
The tools people usually open next to PDF to Text:
- PDF to PowerPoint — Convert PDF to PowerPoint online
- PDF to JPG — Get PDF pages converted to JPG, PNG or TIFF images.
- PDF to Word — Convert from PDF to DOCX online
Every tool works on a copy, so the original file is never modified. Uploads are stored under an unguessable id and deleted automatically two hours after you last open them; nothing is listed, shared or indexed. More on the security page.