ToolsStars

PDF to Text — Free Online

Need the words inside a PDF for an assignment, quotation, notes or another document? Extract its selectable text page by page, tidy it in the editable box, then copy it or save a .txt file.

No sign-up Files never uploaded Unlimited use Free forever

Drop a PDF to extract its text

Best for digital PDFs with selectable text

100% private — processed on your device

How to use the PDF to Text

  1. 1

    Add a digital PDF

    This works best when you can already select words in the PDF with your mouse or finger.

  2. 2

    Extract the pages

    Keep page headings if you want to know where each block came from, then click Extract text.

  3. 3

    Copy or download

    Edit the result if needed, copy it to your clipboard, or download it as a plain text file.

Why use Tools Stars for this?

  • Page-by-page extraction with optional Page 1, Page 2 headings
  • Word and character counts shown immediately
  • Editable result box before copying or downloading
  • Clear warning and OCR guidance for scanned, photo-only PDFs
  • No upload: private documents are read locally in your browser

Frequently asked questions

Why did it say no text was found?

Your PDF probably contains scanned page images rather than real text. Use PDF to JPG to make page images, then run those images through our Image to Text (OCR) tool.

Will tables and columns stay perfectly formatted?

Plain text extraction preserves the reading order as well as the PDF allows, but it cannot retain visual columns, fonts, colours or exact table grids. Multi-column documents may need small cleanup.

What is the difference between PDF to Text and OCR?

PDF to Text reads actual text already stored in a digital PDF, which is fast and accurate. OCR looks at a picture of words and guesses the letters; use OCR only for scans and photos.

Can I edit the extracted text here?

Yes. The result appears in an editable box, so you can fix headings or remove unwanted lines before copying or downloading.

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