Extract Text from PDF
A PDF text extractor reads the embedded text layer of a PDF and outputs it as plain text, page by page, running in the browser so the document is never uploaded.
Drop a file here, or
A PDF that contains selectable text
About Extract Text from PDF
Open a PDF and the tool walks its text layer with pdf.js, returning the text for each page to copy or download as a .txt file. It works on PDFs that contain real text (most exports and digital documents); scanned image-only PDFs have no text layer to extract without OCR. All processing is local, so even confidential documents stay on your device.
What Extract Text from PDF does
- Extract the text layer from every page
- Copy to clipboard or download as .txt
- Per-page output with page markers
- Self-hosted pdf.js — nothing uploaded
- Runs entirely in your browser
When to reach for Extract Text from PDF
- Quoting a paragraph from a report without retyping
- Pulling text out of a contract to search or translate
- Getting raw text from a PDF to feed another tool
- Saving a PDF's content as a plain-text file
How to use Extract Text from PDF
- 01
Open a PDF
Drop a PDF that contains selectable text.
- 02
Extract
The tool reads each page's text layer locally.
- 03
Copy or save
Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
When to use Extract Text from PDF vs alternatives
| Alternative | Use Extract Text from PDF when… | Use the alternative when… |
|---|---|---|
| Copy-paste from a PDF viewer | you want all pages at once as clean text or a .txt file. | you only need a sentence or two. |
| Online PDF-to-text / OCR sites | the PDF already has a text layer and is confidential. | the PDF is a scan that needs OCR. |
Frequently asked questions
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Is my document uploaded?
Why is some spacing or layout lost?
Can I get the text per page?
Related tools
Related reading
Related concepts
PDF
PDF (Portable Document Format) is a page-description file format that locks the exact layout, fonts, and graphics of a document so it renders identically on any device — which is why contracts, invoices, bank statements, and forms are almost always shared as PDFs.
OCR
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the process of turning images of text — a scanned page, a photo of a receipt, a screenshot — into machine-readable characters, so a picture of words becomes text you can select, search, and copy.