Convert from PDF
PDF to text, extracted locally
This tool pulls the text out of a PDF and saves it as a .txt file, in your browser. It reads real text only. Scanned pages are just pictures, so for those use OCR PDF, which recognises the text first.
or drop files here, or paste with Ctrl/Cmd+V
PDF · up to 50 files · 100 MB each · 200 pages per PDF
No file to hand?
Your files stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded. Check it yourself
How to use PDF to Text
Add your PDF
Drop it on the box, click to browse, or paste it.
Press Convert
Each page is read in turn. A progress counter shows where it is.
Download the .txt
Save the text file. Pages are separated by a marker line.
What text extraction can and cannot do
A PDF does not store a document the way a word processor does. It stores instructions for drawing characters at positions on a page. Extraction reads those characters back in the order they were drawn and joins them into lines. PlumPDF does this in your browser.
That is why simple documents such as letters, articles and reports come out well, while multi-column layouts, tables and forms can come out jumbled. Headers, footers and page numbers appear as ordinary lines on each page.
The output is a UTF-8 text file. Pages are separated by a blank line and a "--- Page N ---" marker so you can find your way around. Images, charts and anything drawn as shapes are ignored.
Scanned documents and photographs of paper contain no text and give an error; OCR PDF handles those. Password-protected PDFs need unlocking first with Unlock PDF.
Questions about PDF to Text
How do I extract text from a PDF for free?
Add the PDF above and press Convert. You get one .txt file containing the text of every page, separated by lines like "--- Page 2 ---". It is free, and the PDF never leaves your device.
Why does it say no selectable text was found?
The PDF is probably a scan or a photo of a document, which contains no text, only pictures. Getting text out of it needs OCR (optical character recognition): use OCR PDF, which reads the pages in your browser and gives you the text.
Will the layout and tables be preserved?
Only roughly. PlumPDF returns text in the order the PDF stores it, with line breaks where the PDF has them. Columns, tables and footnotes can come out interleaved or in an odd order, and formatting such as bold or font size is lost.
Does it work with Hindi and other non-Latin scripts?
Yes when the PDF stores proper Unicode text. Some PDFs, mostly older Indian-language documents, use custom font encodings, and the extracted text then looks garbled. That comes from how the PDF was made, not from the conversion.
Can I extract text from several PDFs at once?
Yes. Add up to 50 PDFs. Each gives its own .txt file, and you can download them one by one or together as a zip. A PDF with no text, such as a scan, is listed with a pointer to OCR PDF, and the others still go through.
Can I convert a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. PlumPDF asks for the password to be removed first. If you know it, Unlock PDF saves an unlocked copy in your browser; convert that copy instead.
Is it safe to convert PDF to text online?
With PlumPDF, yes: your PDF is never uploaded. The pages are drawn locally, inside your browser tab. Nothing is stored, and closing the tab discards the results.