PDF Text Extractor
Pull the selectable text out of a PDF and save it as a plain text file.
Getting the words out
Sometimes you need the text of a PDF, not the PDF itself — to paste into a document, feed into another tool, search through, or reformat. This lifts the selectable text out of the file and hands it back as plain text you can save or copy, without the layout and formatting getting in the way.
It works on PDFs that contain real text — the kind where you can already highlight words in a reader.
Why a scan sometimes comes back empty
There is one important catch. A PDF that is really a scanned image of a page has no text layer to extract — to your eye it looks like text, but to the file it is a picture. If nothing comes out, that is the reason, and the fix is optical character recognition, which reads the letters from the image rather than lifting an existing text layer.
How to extract text from a PDF
- Open the PDF you want the text from.
- Let it pull the selectable text out of every page.
- Copy the text or download it as a plain file.
Get the words out
Extracting text lets you quote a report, feed a document into another program, or simply search a file that fights copy-and-paste. It works instantly on PDFs whose text is real text rather than a picture of text.
If nothing comes out, the PDF is probably a scan — an image of a page. For those you need OCR, which reads the letters out of the image.
Questions & answers
Why did no text come out?
The PDF is likely a scanned image. Use an OCR tool, which recognises letters inside the picture.
Does it keep the formatting?
It extracts the words; complex layouts and columns may come out in reading order rather than pixel-perfect.
Is my document uploaded?
No. The text is read in your browser and the file never leaves your device.
Why did no text come out of my PDF?
It is probably a scanned image with no real text layer. Use image-to-text OCR to read the words from the picture instead.
What format is the text saved in?
Plain text, so you can paste it anywhere or open it in any editor.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The text is extracted in your browser.