PDF to Text Converter

About the PDF to Text Converter

What is a PDF to text converter?

It reads a PDF and hands you the words as plain, editable text. A PDF locks its text into a fixed layout built for printing, which is great on paper and useless when you want to quote a paragraph, search a manual or feed a document to a script. Extraction sets the text free.

The reading happens on your own device with Mozilla's PDF engine. Your file is never uploaded, which matters when the document is a contract, a medical record or a bank statement. There is no signup, no page limit and no watermark on anything.

How to Use This Tool

1. Pick a PDF, drop it onto the box, or press Try a sample PDF.
2. The text appears on the right automatically once every page is read.
3. Choose a mode. Flowing text rebuilds paragraphs for comfortable reading, while Preserve layout keeps columns and tables lined up the way the page shows them.
4. Narrow the output with Pages, for example 2-5, and switch on Page markers if you want a divider before each page.
5. Tidy the result right in the output box if anything needs a touch-up.
6. Press Copy, or Download .txt to save it under the same name as your PDF.

Example

With the default options (Flowing text), the visible lines of this invoice page will be converted to plain text you can paste anywhere:

ACME Web Services      INVOICE #2041
128 Hill Street        March 4, 2026

Item                        Amount
Web design               $1,200.00
Hosting, 12 months         $180.00
Total                    $1,380.00

ACME Web Services INVOICE #2041
128 Hill Street March 4, 2026

Item Amount
Web design $1,200.00
Hosting, 12 months $180.00
Total $1,380.00

Switch to Preserve layout and the columns keep their spacing, so $1,200.00 stays lined up under Amount, ready to paste into a spreadsheet.

Common Use Cases

Once the text is out of the PDF, it can go anywhere text goes.

• Quoting and citing: lift a passage from a paper or report without retyping a word of it.
• Data cleanup: pull line items out of invoices and statements, then paste them into Excel or Google Sheets.
• Search and scripting: turn a manual into a .txt file you can grep, index or process in code.
• Accessibility: plain text plays nicely with screen readers and text-to-speech apps.
• Translation and AI prompts: most language tools want pasted text, not a PDF attachment.

If your PDF is a scan, there is no text layer to read. Convert the pages with the PDF to PNG Converter and run the images through the Image to Text Converter, which recognizes the words with OCR.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I copy text from a PDF?

Drop the PDF above and the text appears in the output box within seconds. Press Copy and paste it wherever you need it. Nothing gets retyped and nothing gets uploaded.

Why is the extracted text empty?

The PDF is probably a scan, so each page is a photo with no text layer inside. Convert the pages to images and run them through our Image to Text Converter, which does OCR.

What does Preserve layout do?

It spaces each line to mirror the page, so columns and tables stay aligned. Flowing text does the opposite and joins lines into paragraphs for comfortable reading.

Can I extract text from certain pages only?

Yes. Type a range like 2-5 or 1, 3, 9 into the Pages field and the output updates instantly. Leave the field empty to get the whole document.

Will tables come out perfectly?

Close, but not always perfect. A PDF stores positioned text rather than real table structure. Preserve layout keeps columns aligned with spaces, which pastes into a spreadsheet surprisingly well.

Is it safe for confidential documents?

Yes. The file is read entirely on your device and never crosses the network. You can disconnect after the page loads and the extraction still works.