Extract Text from PDF

Pulls the existing text layer out of a PDF — instant, and free. Works for any PDF with selectable text; for scanned images, use the OCR PDF tool instead.

Drop files here, or click to choose

One PDF file

This runs entirely in your browser. Your file is never sent to a server — check your browser's network tab if you don't believe us.

How to use this tool

Extract Text from PDF reads the text layer already embedded in a PDF and returns it as plain text — instant, with no recognition step.

Select a PDF file.
Click "Extract text" — this only works if the PDF has selectable text (try clicking and dragging over it first to check).
Copy the result or download it as a .txt file.

For a scanned PDF with no text layer, use OCR PDF instead — it recognizes text from the page image.