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PDF to Text
Pull the text out of a PDF to copy or save.
Free tools that run in your browser. Nothing you type, open or create is uploaded to NerdBible or anyone else.
Choose a PDF to start.
No text was found on . Those pages are most likely scanned images: a scan is a picture of the page and has no text layer to read. Text in it can only be recovered with OCR (text recognition), which this tool does not do.
Text is taken in the order the PDF stores it, which is usually reading order. Columns, tables and footnotes may come out in a different order, and a PDF made from a scan or a photo has no text at all unless it was run through OCR when it was made.
How to use it
- Choose or drop a PDF.
- Keep page markers on if you want to see where each page begins, or turn them off for plain running text.
- Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
Questions
Why is the result empty?
The PDF has no text layer. That is the case for scans and photos of documents: each page is an image of text, not text. You would need OCR software to turn it into text.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. pdf.js reads the file inside your browser and the text is put together on your device.
Why are some words split or run together?
PDFs store text as positioned pieces, not as words and sentences. The tool adds spaces and line breaks from the positions, which works for most documents, but unusual layouts or letter spacing can still trip it up.
Does it keep formatting such as bold or tables?
No. The result is plain text. Tables become lines of text with spaces between the cells.
About this tool
Getting the text out of a PDF
Copying text from a PDF reader often brings broken lines, missing spaces or one word per line. This tool reads the text layer of the whole document and gives it back as plain text you can copy into an email, a document or a spreadsheet, or download as a .txt file.
How to use it
- Choose or drop a PDF.
- Read the extracted text, page by page.
- Copy it or download it.
Why some PDFs give no text
A PDF made by scanning paper, or by saving photos as a PDF, holds pictures of pages rather than text. There is nothing to extract, and you would need OCR software that recognises letters in images. If the result is empty or nearly empty, that is almost always the reason.
What changes on the way out
PDFs store text as positioned fragments, not as paragraphs. The text comes out in the order the PDF stores it, which is usually reading order, but columns, tables and footnotes may land out of place, so complex pages may need tidying afterwards. An option joins broken lines back into paragraphs. Fonts, colours and images are not part of plain text and are left behind.
Useful next steps
Paste the result into the word counter to check its length, or into the diff checker to compare two versions of a contract.
The document is read on your device and nothing is sent anywhere.
Related tools
- PDF to ImagesTurn every page of a PDF into a PNG or JPG.
- Word Counter & ReadabilityWords, characters, sentences and reading time, plus reading ease, grade level, long sentences and passive voice.
- Diff CheckerSee what changed between two texts or two JSON files.
- Text & Markdown to PDFTurn text or Markdown into a clean PDF.
- Split PDFPull pages or ranges out of a PDF.