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PDF to Text pulls all the words out of a PDF into a plain .txt file with no fonts, columns or images, just the text. It is handy for quoting from a report, searching a long document in a text editor, or feeding the contents into another program.

How to convert PDF to Text

Drop your PDF on the page or choose it from your device, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive (up to 260 MB). A preview of the first page appears with the page count. Text (.txt) sits at the top of the Convert to list, marked Recommended. Press it and download the file, which is named after your PDF, so board-minutes.pdf becomes board-minutes.txt. You can add several PDFs and convert them in one go, each with its own .txt file.

Scanned PDFs need OCR first

This converter reads the text layer inside the file. A scan, such as a phone photo of a letter saved as PDF, has no text layer, only a picture of the page, so there is nothing to pull out. The converter spots scans and puts PDF OCR at the top of the list. Run that first, then convert the result to text.

What PDF to Text is used for

A paralegal pastes clauses from a signed agreement into a notes file without the formatting fighting back. A data analyst runs a year of PDF reports through a script that only reads plain text. A writer copies an old article out of a PDF into a new draft. Plain text turns tables into lines of words and loses bold and headings, so if you want to keep structure, PDF to Markdown or PDF to Word are better picks.

Frequently asked questions

Does PDF to Text keep formatting?
No, and that is the point of it. You get the words only. Choose PDF to Word to keep the layout, or PDF to Markdown to keep headings and lists.
Why is my PDF to Text file empty?
The PDF is almost certainly a scan with no real text in it. Run PDF OCR from the same list first, then convert the OCR'd file.
Can I convert several PDFs to text at once?
Yes. Add them together and press Text. Each PDF becomes its own .txt file.
What happens to tables when I convert to text?
Table cells come out as plain lines without the grid. For tables you want as rows and columns, PDF to CSV or PDF to Excel suit better.
What can I open a .txt file with?
Almost anything: Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code, Google Docs, or the notes app on your phone. That is the advantage of plain text.
Is the text in the same order as the PDF?
It follows the order the text is stored in the file, which is usually reading order. Multi-column layouts, such as newsletters, can sometimes mix columns together, so skim the result.