Does this work on scanned PDFs too?

Only PDFs with actual text data can be extracted. Scanned image PDFs have no text data (OCR would be needed).

Is my file uploaded to a server?

No. All processing happens inside your browser.

Why is the output empty?

The PDF is image-only (a scan) with no text layer. Use the OCR tool instead.

Is formatting preserved?

Only the characters are extracted — tables, images, and styling are not included.

📄 PDF to Text

Extract the text content of a PDF.

Drop your PDF file here

Click or drag a file

🔒 Uploaded files are never sent to a server — processed entirely in your browser

How to extract text

Select a PDF file and its text is extracted automatically.
Copy what you need, or download it all with Save TXT.

How extraction works

Item	Details
What is extracted	The embedded text layer — where characters exist as real data
Scanned docs	Scans have no text layer and come out empty — use the OCR tool
Output	Text appears per page in order, ready to copy

💡 When you want to reuse the text inside a PDF

To copy document content for reuse, or make it searchable and editable, pulling just the text out of a PDF is the fastest route.

📄 Copy or save as TXT: Copy just what you need, or download the whole thing as a TXT file.
🔍 Scanned PDFs are an exception: Scanned image PDFs with no text data can't be extracted (OCR would be needed).
🔒 Browser-only processing: Files are never uploaded to a server — extraction happens only in your browser.

📌 Where is PDF to Text useful?

Reusing document content — copy text out of a PDF to edit it in a word processor or notes app.
Searching and organizing — pull text out of a long report to quickly search for a term.
Pasting into a translator — extract text so it can be dropped straight into a translation tool.
Data cleanup — gather text from several PDFs to reorganize into a table or list.

✨ When text comes out broken or missing

A scanned image PDF has no actual text data, so extraction may return nothing (OCR isn't supported).
Tables and multi-column layouts can come out in a different order than they appear — check the result.
Use "Copy" to grab it straight to your clipboard, or "Save TXT" to download it as a file.

🔒 Can I extract text from a scanned (image) PDF?

No. This tool reads text that's already embedded in the PDF — a scanned document made from photos, with no underlying text layer, has nothing to extract. That requires OCR (optical character recognition), which isn't supported here.

📖 Guide: How to Extract Text From a PDF →

Frequently asked questions

Does this work on scanned PDFs?: Only PDFs with actual text data can be extracted. Scanned image PDFs have no text data (OCR would be needed).
Is my file uploaded to a server?: No. All processing happens inside your browser.
Why is the output empty?: The PDF is image-only (a scan) with no text layer. Use the OCR tool instead.
Is formatting preserved?: Only the characters are extracted — tables, images, and styling are not included.