How do I convert a PDF to a text file?

Drop your PDF onto the converter, wait a moment while every page is read with pdfjs-dist, then click Download to save a .txt file with the extracted content.

What happens to my file?

Your PDF is read by your browser using pdfjs-dist, and the .txt output is generated in the same tab. Our servers are not involved at any point.

Can I copy the text instead of downloading?

Yes. The Copy button puts the whole extracted text on your clipboard so you can paste it into a document, email, or note-taking app.

Why are page breaks separated by blank lines?

A blank line is inserted between pages to keep the boundaries visible. This makes it easier to find specific pages when you paste the text into another application.

What kinds of PDFs work best?

PDFs with a digital text layer (most documents created from Word, web pages, or other digital sources) convert cleanly. Scanned PDFs without a text layer have no text to extract. Some Chinese, Japanese and Korean PDFs whose fonts rely on a predefined character map (CMap) come out with that text missing, because those character maps are not bundled with the tool.

PDF to Text Converter

Convert a PDF document into a plain .txt file. Drop the PDF, review the extracted text in the output area, and download it as text. All processing runs in your browser.

Drop a PDF here or click to browse

How it works

Conversion starts when pdfjs-dist loads your PDF into memory and asks each page for its text content via getTextContent(). The text items are concatenated in reading order with their line breaks kept, and blank lines mark page boundaries. The completed string is wrapped in a Blob with the text/plain MIME type so the Download button hands you a clean .txt file you can open in any editor.

Processing runs in your browser

All text extraction happens locally in your browser tab. The PDF is loaded into memory, parsed by pdfjs-dist, and the extracted text is written into the output area. Our servers are not involved at any point. You can inspect this yourself in your browser's DevTools Network tab.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert a PDF to a text file?: Drop your PDF onto the converter, wait a moment while every page is read with pdfjs-dist, then click Download to save a .txt file with the extracted content.
What happens to my file?: Your PDF is read by your browser using pdfjs-dist, and the .txt output is generated in the same tab. Our servers are not involved at any point.
Can I copy the text instead of downloading?: Yes. The Copy button puts the whole extracted text on your clipboard so you can paste it into a document, email, or note-taking app.
Why are page breaks separated by blank lines?: A blank line is inserted between pages to keep the boundaries visible. This makes it easier to find specific pages when you paste the text into another application.
What kinds of PDFs work best?: PDFs with a digital text layer (most documents created from Word, web pages, or other digital sources) convert cleanly. Scanned PDFs without a text layer have no text to extract. Some Chinese, Japanese and Korean PDFs whose fonts rely on a predefined character map (CMap) come out with that text missing, because those character maps are not bundled with the tool.

Last reviewed September 30, 2026

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