How to use the pdf to text extractor
- Choose a PDF or drop it on the box. One PDF at a time, up to 25 MB and 500 pages.
- Press Extract text. A progress bar shows the pages being read, and you can cancel at any time.
- Tick Put a "--- Page N ---" line before each page if you want page breaks marked.
- Read the result and the counts of pages, words and characters. Use Copy text or Download .txt.
Worked example
A page that contains a large heading Annual report, then the lines Revenue grew and by ten percent., then after a gap the line Costs stayed flat. drawn as three separate pieces of text, comes out as four lines of text with a blank line before and after the middle paragraph: the heading, then Revenue grew and by ten percent. on two lines, then Costs stayed flat. on one line. The space between the pieces on the last line is added because there is a visible gap between them.
A page with no text is listed as having no text, and the message explains that scanned pages are pictures that this tool cannot read. Accented letters such as in Café crème are kept.
How text is read from a PDF
A PDF stores text as small pieces placed at positions on the page. The tool reads those pieces in the order the file stores them, starts a new line when the position moves down, adds a blank line for a larger gap, and puts a space between pieces that are visibly apart. This gives good results for ordinary documents such as letters and reports.
The result is approximate for complicated layouts. Tables lose their columns, text in several columns may come out in the order the file stores it, and hyphenated words at line ends keep their hyphen. Check anything important against the original.
When there is no text
Scanned documents and photographs of pages are pictures, not text. This tool does not do optical character recognition, so it reports no text for them. Some PDFs also use fonts that map letters to symbols in a way that produces odd characters when copied. Text from password protected files cannot be read, and the tool does not try to remove passwords.
The file is processed in your browser, never uploaded, and the text is shown only on your screen until you copy or download it. The box shows up to 1,000,000 characters and the download has everything. Related tools include the PDF to image converter, the split PDF tool, the merge PDF tool and the text line tools.
Assumptions and limits
- Only text stored as text is read. Pictures of text are not recognized.
- Line breaks and blank lines are rebuilt from positions, so layouts with tables or columns are approximate.
- Page separators are optional and are only in the displayed and copied text when ticked.
- Files over 25 MB or 500 pages are refused with a message.
Frequently asked questions
Can I extract text from a scanned PDF?
Not with this tool. A scan is a picture of a page, and reading it needs optical character recognition. If you can select and copy text in your PDF viewer, this tool can read it.
Why is my table text mixed up?
PDFs store tables as separate pieces of text at positions, with no rows and columns. The tool rebuilds lines from the positions, so columns may run together or appear out of order.
Does the text keep bold, italics and fonts?
No. The result is plain text. Headings, fonts, colors and images are not part of it, but accented letters and symbols are kept as characters.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. The file is read in your browser and the text stays on your device until you copy it or download it as a text file.