Extract the text layer of a PDF into a plain .txt file. Layout, tables and images are not rebuilt.
Drop your PDF here
or
Maximum file size: 25MB. Your file is converted on the server and deleted immediately — we do not keep a copy.
Uploads one PDF (25 MB). The server reads the existing text layer and writes a .txt file. No OCR. Empty download usually means a scan. Columns and tables become a single stream of lines.
Word vs this extractor
PDF to Word tries to produce a .docx and may keep more structure when the full converter works. This page is only the character stream—useful for grep, pasting into an editor, or checking whether a file even has a text layer.
- Drop a PDF, wait, download
.txt.
Upload
The file is processed on our servers and not kept as a library. Ten jobs per minute.
Further reading
Pull Text Out of a PDF Without Retyping It.
Text extraction questions
Will the layout be preserved?
No. This tool extracts the text layer only. Columns, tables, images and exact positioning are not rebuilt. You get a readable .txt file, not a designed page.
Can I extract text from a scanned PDF?
Not usefully. A scan is an image of text, so there are no characters to copy. This page does not run optical character recognition.
What is the maximum file size?
One PDF of up to 25 MB per conversion. Requests are limited to ten per minute from the same address.
Do you keep a copy of my PDF?
No. The file is uploaded only so we can extract the text, then discarded. We do not keep a library of uploaded PDFs or extracted files.
Can I convert a password-protected PDF?
Not directly. Remove the password first using our lock and unlock tool, then extract text from the unprotected copy.
Is my file uploaded to a server?
Yes. Extraction runs on our server. The PDF is used only to produce your download. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Need Word or page pictures instead
Different outputs: PDF to Word, PDF to Image, Word & Character Counter. Browse the full PDF & File set or the all tools hub.