PDF to text online - free, private extraction
Get the words out of your PDF. Copy the passages you need, or save the text as a simple file.
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How to extract text from a PDF
- Choose a PDF with selectable text or scanned English pages. Pages without a text layer are read with in-browser OCR.
- Enter page ranges if you only want a chapter or section. Leave the field empty to read every page.
- Select “Extract text”, review or edit the result, then copy it or download a UTF-8 TXT file.
Text extraction is useful when you want a clean starting point for revision notes, quotations, or a study outline. This tool reads existing PDF text and uses English OCR for scanned pages, placing the result in an editable text box. It attempts to preserve line breaks and separates pages with blank lines. You can correct a heading, remove repeated footers, or tidy spacing before copying. The TXT download updates to include your edits.
PDFs describe where words appear on a page, not always the order in which people read them. Multi-column articles, tables, footnotes, and equations may therefore need manual cleanup. Formatting such as fonts, colors, diagrams, and table borders is not included in plain text. Check important passages against the source, especially when the document uses unusual character encoding or complex layouts.
A scanned document may look full of words while containing only page images. Pages without selectable text are rendered and read with English OCR on your device. Scans take longer, and recognition can make mistakes; review important passages against the original. Keep the input file under 150 MB and try a smaller range for long documents on a phone. All extraction stays in this browser tab. The home-page flashcard generator is a separate optional workflow and explains how extracted text is used for AI-generated cards.
A few useful answers
Does this tool include OCR?
Yes. Pages without selectable text use English OCR in your browser. Review recognized text for mistakes, especially on blurry scans.
Why are columns or tables out of order?
A PDF’s internal text order can differ from its visual reading order. Review the result and edit columns, tables, or repeated headers as needed.
Can I edit the extracted text before downloading?
Yes. Edit the text box and both Copy text and the TXT download use your current edited version.
Is text sent to an AI service?
No. This PDF-to-text tool runs locally. If you separately choose the home-page AI flashcard generator, that workflow sends extracted text for card generation as described there.