Extract Text
Extract the text content from a PDF and copy it or download it as a .txt file. Works with digital (non-scanned) PDFs.
Drag & drop or click to choose
Choose a text-based PDF
Files are processed on your device and never uploaded.
How to extract text
- 1Upload a text-based PDF.
- 2Let the tool read every page.
- 3Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
Extract text from a PDF quickly
When you just need the words out of a PDF — to quote a passage, feed text into another app, or repurpose content — copying page by page is slow and error-prone. Extract Text reads all the selectable text from your PDF at once and hands it back so you can copy it or download a plain .txt file.
It works with digital PDFs, the kind where you can already highlight text with your cursor.
For scans, use OCR instead
If the PDF is a scan (images of pages), there is no selectable text to pull, so this tool returns little or nothing. In that case use OCR PDF, which recognises the text inside the images.
Need an editable document rather than raw text? PDF to Word builds a .docx from the extracted content. Everything runs privately in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
It returned nothing — why?+
Your PDF is probably a scan (images of text). Use the OCR tool instead to read text from scanned documents.
Can I download the text as a file?+
Yes. Copy it to your clipboard, or download it as a plain .txt file.
Is my PDF uploaded?+
No. The text is extracted in your browser, so your document never leaves your device.