PDF to Text Converter
Copy every line of text from a PDF into a plain .txt file.
Select a PDF fileor drop it anywhere on this page, or paste
Opens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
PDF to Text Converter, free and private
Convert PDF to text in one step. The tool pulls the words from every page into a plain .txt file, top to bottom, and reads two-column pages left column first.
Use it to paste a passage into an email, search a report in a text editor, quote a contract clause, or feed a document into a script. It is free, works in your browser with pdf.js, and does not upload your file.
How to extract text from a PDF
- 1
Add your PDF
Press Select PDF files or drop a PDF onto the page. The tool converts one file at a time.
- 2
Check the text and choose pages
The text appears beside the options as soon as the pages are read, and Copy text puts it all on the clipboard. Pages with no text are flagged as scans. Turn on Page markers to add a line like ----- Page 3 of 12 ----- before each page, and use Choose pages for a range like 2-5, 9.
- 3
Press Extract text
Each page is read and its text grouped into lines and blocks. A progress bar shows how far a long file has got.
- 4
Download the TXT file
Press Download TXT. The file keeps the PDF's name with a .txt ending and is saved as UTF-8, so accented letters and non-Latin scripts come through intact.
Why use PDFToolz for this
Stays on your device
The PDF is read by JavaScript in your browser and never sent anywhere. That matters when the text comes from a contract, bank statement or medical letter.
Columns read in order
On a page with two columns, the whole left column comes before the right one. Titles and wide tables that span both columns start a new block, so the text reads like the page.
Lines that stay together
Text pieces are joined into one line when their baselines are close, not only when they match exactly. Slightly uneven text, such as a word in a different font, stays on its line.
Optional page markers
Markers show which page a passage came from, which helps when citing. Continuous text is cleaner for pasting into another document.
What your PDF to text output looks like
A PDF does not store paragraphs. It stores bits of text at positions on a page. The tool groups bits that sit on about the same baseline into lines, sorts them top to bottom and splits the page into blocks. A blank line separates columns and blocks.
Nothing else about the layout is kept. Bold, italics, fonts, images and tables are dropped. Each line on the page becomes one line in the file, so paragraphs keep the line breaks they had in the PDF.
- Two columns: the left column is read first, then the right, with a blank line between them.
- Tables: cells in one row end up on one line, separated by spaces.
- Headers, footers and page numbers are included, since they are text on the page.
- Words split with a hyphen at the end of a line keep the hyphen.
Scanned pages, empty or garbled text
A scanned page is a picture with no text layer. If no page has text, the tool stops and tells you to run OCR PDF first. If only some pages are scans, you still get the file, and the result lists the pages with no text.
Random symbols instead of words mean the PDF's fonts lack a map from shapes to real letters. The page looks fine on screen, but the text cannot be read back directly. OCR is the practical fix.
Files that block copying but open without a password work as normal. If the PDF asks for a password to open, remove it with Unlock PDF first.
PDF to Text, PDF to Word or OCR PDF
Pick PDF to Text when you only want the words. Pick PDF to Word when you want an editable .docx with paragraphs, headings, bold, italic and images. Pick OCR PDF when the file is a scan and you want the PDF itself to become searchable. This tool does not run OCR.
Frequently asked questions
Add the PDF, check the text preview, turn Page markers on if you want them, press Extract text, then press Download TXT. It is free, needs no sign-up, and the file is processed in your browser.
Not on its own. A scanned page is a picture with no text to extract, and the tool will tell you so. Run the file through OCR PDF first, then extract the text here.
The left column is read first, then the right, with a blank line between them. Lines from the two columns are not mixed.
No. The output is plain text. Formatting, images and table structure are dropped, and cells in the same row become one line.
UTF-8. It handles accented letters and non-Latin scripts in any modern text editor.
Yes. Choose Page markers and each page starts with a line such as ----- Page 3 of 12 -----.
Last reviewed . See how we build and test our tools, or report an error.
