Extract text from a PDF
Pull every word out of a PDF into a plain text file you can search, edit or paste anywhere.
A fresh start for your PDFs.
Drag a PDF file here and let’s make something happen.
Only on your device. Always in your control.
How to extract text from a PDF
- 1
Choose a PDF that has selectable text.
- 2
Press Extract text.
- 3
Download the .txt file, organized page by page.
About this tool
Copying text out of a PDF viewer often breaks lines and drops pages. pdfy reads the text layer directly and writes a clean .txt file, perfect for notes, translation or pasting into an AI assistant.
Scanned PDFs contain pictures of text, not text itself, so there is nothing to extract from them.
Page markers
Text is split per page so you can find where each passage came from.
Any language
Unicode text is preserved, including non-Latin scripts.
Private
Read confidential documents without uploading them.
PDF to Text FAQ
Why does it say no text was found?
The PDF is probably a scan. Scanned pages are images, so they need OCR, which you can run with the OCR PDF tool.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. pdfy processes your files inside your browser using your own device. Local tools do not upload documents. If you choose Save draft, that draft is stored only in this browser. You can confirm it in your browser's network panel: no file is ever sent.
Is it really free? Are there limits?
Yes, it is free with no sign up, no watermark on your output and no daily task limit. Because your device does the work, the only practical limit is your device's memory.