Extract Text from a PDF
Pull all the text out of a PDF in one go, ready to copy into an email, document, or spreadsheet. Useful when selecting text in a viewer is fiddly or jumbled. The PDF never leaves your device.
How to extract text from a PDF
- 1Add your PDF. Drop the file onto the box or tap to choose it.
- 2Read through the text. The text from every page appears in a box, with a blank line between pages.
- 3Copy it. Tap Copy to put all the text on your clipboard, then paste it wherever you need it.
Why not just copy from the PDF viewer?
Selecting text in a viewer works for a sentence or two, but across many pages it often skips text, picks up page numbers mid-paragraph, or selects the wrong column. Extracting the whole document at once is quicker and gives you everything in one place to edit.
How the text is arranged
The text from each page is joined into one block, with line breaks inside the page turned into spaces, and a blank line between pages. This makes paragraphs easy to paste and reflow, but it means the original line layout is not kept.
Tables and multi-column layouts come out as plain text in reading order as stored in the file, which is usually but not always left to right, top to bottom. For tables of numbers, expect to tidy the result before pasting it into a spreadsheet.
Scanned PDFs have no text to extract
If the result is empty, your PDF is probably a scan: pictures of pages rather than real text. You can check by trying to select a word in your viewer. To read text from a scan, convert the pages to images with PDF to JPG, then use Image to Text on each image.
Useful things to do with extracted text
- Quote a passage from a report or paper without retyping it
- Copy figures from a statement into a spreadsheet
- Paste a document into a translation tool
- Search a long PDF for a phrase in your own text editor
- Check the length of one section, or use the PDF Word Counter for the whole file
Locked PDFs
A PDF that asks for a password when you open it needs to be unlocked first. If you know the password, use Unlock PDF, then extract the text from the unlocked copy.
Frequently asked questions
Does it keep bold, headings, and formatting?
No. You get plain text, which pastes cleanly anywhere. Formatting would need to be added again.
Can I extract text from only some pages?
Split out the pages you need with Split PDF, then extract the text from that smaller file.
Why is some text in the wrong order?
Text is extracted in the order it is stored in the file, which can differ from the visual order in complex layouts with columns or text boxes.
Does it work with Hindi and other languages?
Yes, if the PDF contains real text in that language. Some PDFs store text in ways that do not extract cleanly, especially with older fonts.
Can it read text in images inside the PDF?
No. Only real text is extracted. Use PDF to JPG and Image to Text for text inside pictures.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The text is extracted in your browser.
Want more detail? Read on our blog: Can't Copy Text from a PDF? Five Causes and How to Fix Each