NOPPAW

PDF to Text

PDF to Text pulls the actual words out of a document — the text layer that readers select and search — and lays it out page by page with clear separators. Copy it into a document, feed it to another tool, or download it as a plain .txt file. If your PDF is a scanned image with no text layer, the tool will tell you honestly that there is nothing to extract rather than inventing output.

Drop a file here or

Accepted: PDF · Max 50 MB per file · Processed locally in your browser

No file selected.

Extract text to see it here.

How to use PDF to Text

  1. Choose or drop the PDF.
  2. Click Extract text and wait while each page is read.
  3. Read the text in the result box — pages are separated by '--- Page N ---' markers.
  4. Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.

Supported behavior

  • Text is extracted with the same engine Firefox's PDF viewer uses, in the document's stored reading order.
  • Every page is separated by a '--- Page N ---' line so you can find passages by page.
  • Both copy-to-clipboard and a .txt download are offered on the result.

Best for

  • Quoting or reusing passages from reports and papers.
  • Checking what text a PDF actually contains (for example before publishing it).
  • Feeding document text into editors, translators or analysis tools.

Limits

  • Scanned PDFs are pictures — they contain no text layer, so extraction returns empty pages. That job needs OCR, which this tool does not pretend to do.
  • Multi-column layouts follow the file's stored order, which can interleave columns in complex designs.
  • Formatting is not preserved: the output is plain text, without fonts, sizes or tables.

Privacy notes

  • Your PDF is processed locally in your browser and is never uploaded to a server.
  • Extraction runs in your browser tab, so even a confidential document's text never leaves your device.

Related tools

Convert JPG PDF to JPG Render every PDF page as a JPG image (ZIP download). Convert PNG PDF to PNG Render every PDF page as a lossless PNG image (ZIP download). Optimize & Edit Edit PDF Metadata See and change a PDF's title, author, subject and keywords. Optimize & Edit Compress PDF Shrink a PDF by rebuilding pages as images at your chosen DPI.

PDF to Text FAQ

Why did I get empty pages?

The PDF almost certainly contains scanned images rather than real text. If you cannot select text in a normal reader either, there is no text layer to extract — an OCR tool is what you need.

What are the '--- Page N ---' lines?

Separators inserted between pages so you can see where each page's text starts. Delete them after pasting if you want continuous prose.

Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF?

Not directly — the text layer is encrypted with the rest of the file. Unlock the PDF first (you need its password), then extract.

Does it work with non-English text?

Yes. Unicode text in any language the PDF embeds is extracted as-is; the separators and interface are the only English added.