PDF to Text
Pull the selectable text out of a PDF into plain text you can copy or save as a .txt file. It all runs in your browser — your document never leaves your device.
- 🔒 100% private — no uploads
- 🆓 Free, no watermark
- 📱 Works on any device
How to extract text from
- 1
Add your PDF
Drop a PDF onto the tool, or click to browse. It’s read locally and never uploaded.
- 2
Read the extracted text
The text from every page appears instantly, with a word count.
- 3
Copy or download
Copy the text to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file. Free and private.
Why use PDF to Text?
100% private
Your PDFs are processed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or seen by anyone — even large or confidential documents stay on your device.
No limits, no watermark
No page caps, no daily limits, no sign-up, and never a watermark — unlike most online PDF tools.
Visual page editing
See every page as a thumbnail. Drag to reorder, rotate with one click, or delete the pages you don’t want — then download.
Works on any device
No install and no account. It runs in any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iPhone.
Get the text out of a PDF, privately
Whether you’re quoting a report, reusing content or feeding text into another tool, this extracts the selectable text from every page of a PDF using pdf.js — entirely in your browser. Because nothing is uploaded, it’s safe for contracts and confidential documents.
Scanned PDFs need OCR
This tool reads the real text layer of a PDF. If your PDF is a scan — just images of pages with no text layer — there’s nothing to extract, and you’d need an OCR tool to recognize the characters first. The tool will tell you when it finds no selectable text.
Guides & explanations
A 40 MB PDF is almost never 40 MB of text. Where the size really comes from, which compression tricks work, and what you give up with each one.
Read the guide →What “Sign PDF” actually does, the difference between a picture of a signature and a cryptographic signature, why self-signed certs look untrusted, and what survives when you email the file.
Read the guide →Layout, required details, tax/VAT handling, payment terms, and the small things that make the difference between “I’ll get to it” and “paid today”. All in the browser, no account needed.
Read the guide →Frequently asked questions
Are my PDFs uploaded to a server?
No. Every page is read, rearranged and written entirely in your browser. Your PDF never leaves your device, so it works even offline once the page has loaded — ideal for confidential documents.
Why is no text extracted from my PDF?
It’s probably a scanned document — images of pages with no text layer. Extraction reads real text, not pictures of text; for scans you need OCR first.
Does it keep the formatting?
It extracts plain text with line and page breaks, not fonts or layout. Complex multi-column layouts may not preserve reading order perfectly.