Softonic

PDF to Text Converter

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The quickest way to get the words out of a PDF. This tool reads the text layer already stored in the PDF, page by page, and gives you plain text you can copy or save as a .txt file. Everything runs in your browser, so your document is never uploaded. One thing to know up front: it reads text that is already in the file, so a scanned or photographed document (an image with no text layer) will come out empty. For those, use an OCR tool instead.

How to extract text from a PDF

  1. 1

    Upload the PDF

    Drag it in or click to browse. The file stays on your device and is never sent to a server.

  2. 2

    Extract the text

    The tool reads the text layer of every page and stitches it together, with a marker before each page.

  3. 3

    Review the result

    The extracted text appears in a box, one page after another, ready to check.

  4. 4

    Copy or download

    Copy it to the clipboard or save it as a .txt file to reuse elsewhere.

What this tool reads, and what it can’t

Type of PDF Result
Exported from Word, Google Docs, a browser or a design tool Full text, clean and complete
A digital PDF with a proper text layer Text extracted page by page
A scan or photo saved as PDF (image only) Empty or almost empty: there is no text to read
A password-protected PDF Cannot be read until you unlock it first

No OCR here: use the right tool for scans

This extractor does not run OCR (optical character recognition). It copies the text that is already inside the PDF, it does not read pixels. If your file is a scan and you get nothing back, run it through an OCR tool first, which turns the image into a real text layer you can then extract.

How the text is laid out

Each page is separated by a --- Page N --- marker, so you can see where one page ends and the next begins. Text is pulled in the order it is stored in the PDF. Most documents read naturally; a few with unusual multi-column layouts may interleave the columns, because the tool follows the PDF’s stored order rather than guessing a reading path.

Common uses

  • Feeding an AI model. Language models take plain text, not PDFs. Extracting first keeps things fast and predictable.
  • Quoting and searching. Copy a passage without fighting the PDF viewer’s selection.
  • Reusing content. Move text into a document, an email or a note without retyping it.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. It reads the embedded text layer, and a scan is just an image with no text layer, so it comes back empty. Use an OCR tool for scanned or photographed documents, then extract the text.

No. Extraction runs entirely in your browser, on your own device. The PDF is never sent to a server and nothing is stored.

A few PDFs, especially multi-column layouts, store their text in a different order than you read it. The tool follows the PDF’s stored order, so columns can interleave. Documents exported from word processors almost always come out correctly.

Not while they are locked. Remove the password with a PDF unlock tool first, then extract the text.

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Tool available in other languages