How do I extract text from a PDF?

Upload your PDF and the text is extracted automatically. Click "Copy" to copy all text to your clipboard, or "Download" to save it as a .txt file.

Why is the extracted text garbled or missing?

If your PDF is a scanned document (an image of text rather than actual text), PDF.js cannot extract text — the content is a bitmap, not characters. Use an OCR tool for scanned PDFs.

Does this work with password-protected PDFs?

No. Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened or processed without the correct password.

Will the formatting be preserved?

Text is extracted in reading order but formatting (tables, columns, line breaks) may not be perfectly preserved in plain text output. For complex layouts, some manual cleanup may be needed.

PDF to Text

Extract all text content from a PDF document. Copy to clipboard or download as a .txt file.

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Drop your PDF here or browse

Supports PDF files

How to PDF to Text

Upload your PDF file.
Text is extracted automatically, page by page.
Click "Copy All" to copy everything to your clipboard, or "Download .txt" to save as a text file.

Why Use This Tool?

Extracting text from a PDF is useful for copying content into other documents, searching through large PDFs programmatically, or processing PDF content with other tools. This extractor reads the embedded text layer directly — no OCR, instant results.

PDF to Text

How to PDF to Text

Why Use This Tool?

Frequently Asked Questions