Extract text from a PDF
Pull the words out of a PDF so you can paste them into an email, a document or a note. The text appears on screen to copy, or you can save it as a plain .txt file. It is read on your device and is not uploaded.
How to do it
- Drop your PDF on the page, or press «Choose file».
- Leave the page box empty for the whole file, or tap the pages you need.
- Press «Pull out text».
- Press «Copy text», or save the .txt file.
Good to know
- This tool reads text that is already inside the PDF. A scanned PDF is a set of pictures of pages, so it gives no text: reading text from pictures (OCR) is not available here.
- Turn on «Mark where each page starts» if you need to know which page a passage came from, for example when quoting or checking a long report.
- Plain text carries the words only. Columns and tables may come out as simple lines, so expect to tidy the layout after pasting.
Questions
How do I copy text from a PDF that won't let me select it?
Open it here and press «Pull out text». If the PDF contains real text, you get all of it at once and can copy it with one button. If nothing comes out, the pages are scanned pictures.
Why is no text found in my PDF?
The PDF was most likely made by a scanner or a camera, so each page is a picture with no text behind it. This tool does not do text recognition (OCR), so it cannot read those pages.
Can I convert a PDF to a TXT file for free?
Yes. After the text is pulled out you can save it as a .txt file. There is no sign-up and no limit on how often you use it.