PDF to Text
Extract the text content from any PDF directly in your browser. The file never leaves your device, no upload, no server.
Upload
Drop a PDF here or browse
Leave blank for all pages. Ranges like 2- mean “to the end”.
Extracted text
What is PDF to Text?
Pull the entire text content out of a PDF file.
Useful when you need to copy text from a document that disables selection, search inside a stack of PDFs locally, or feed PDF text into a script or LLM. The tool reads your file with pdf.js running in your browser, walks every page, reassembles the text in reading order, and shows the result so you can copy it or download it as a .txt file. Optionally inserts '--- Page N ---' separators between pages so you can keep track of where each block came from. Nothing leaves your device - the file is never uploaded to any server. Password-protected PDFs are not supported here because they require the original password to decrypt. Image-only PDFs (scanned documents with no embedded text layer) will return empty results because there is no text to extract - those need an OCR tool, which is a different category of operation.
How to Use PDF to Text
- 1Drop your PDF onto the upload area or click 'browse' to select it
- 2Toggle whether to include page-break separators in the output
- 3Click 'Extract text' - the tool walks every page and reassembles the text
- 4Use 'Copy' or 'Download .txt' to save the result
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my PDF get uploaded to a server?
Why does my scanned PDF return empty text?
Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF?
How big a PDF can I process?
Can I copy text from a PDF that disables selection?
Can I use the extracted text with ChatGPT or another AI tool?
Related Tools
Pdf to png
Convert PDF to JPG or PNG online free - turn every PDF page into a high-resolution image in your browser, no upload
Merge pdf online
Merge PDF online free or split PDF into pages - no upload to servers, all processing happens in your browser
Docx to pdf
Convert .docx documents to PDF entirely in your browser - no upload, no signup, no servers involved
Rotate pdf pages
Rotate PDF pages online free - fix sideways or upside-down pages 90, 180, or 270 degrees in your browser, no upload
Change pdf author
Edit PDF title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and creation date - in-browser, no upload
Watermark pdf free
Add text or image watermarks to PDF documents online free - stamp text, logos, or signatures on any PDF
Ai summarizer
Condense long text into clear summaries using a local AI - nothing leaves your browser
Tailwind to CSS
Free online tailwind to CSS - convert Tailwind CSS classes to vanilla CSS properties
Keep reading: Bash/Shell Cheat Sheet and file permissions reference. Doing this in code instead? See the encoding endpoints.