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PDF to Text Converter — Free PDF to TXT, No Upload

Pull the text out of a PDF into a plain .txt file you can search, edit, paste or feed to other tools — nothing leaves your device.

Free · no signup2 free files a day100% in-browser · no upload

Tap to select PDF files

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2 free files per day (2 left today) · Up to 10 MB each · Upgrade for more

✓ Files never uploaded✓ 100% browser-based✓ No account required
Need the reverse?TXT → PDF

How to convert PDF to TXT online

  1. 1

    Drop your PDF file

    Drag your Portable Document Format file onto the box above, or click it to pick a file.

  2. 2

    Wait a few seconds

    Conversion starts on its own and runs on your device, not on a server.

  3. 3

    Download your TXT

    Click Download to save the Plain Text File file.

PDF vs TXT: format overview

PDF

Portable Document Format

Adobe Systems (John Warnock) · 1993

Compression
lossless
Transparency
No
  • ✓ Fixed layout — looks identical on every device
  • ✓ Embeds fonts, images, and vector graphics
  • ✗ Not editable without Acrobat or similar
TXT

Plain Text File

No single inventor (plain text)

Compression
none
Transparency
No
  • ✓ Opens anywhere, forever
  • ✓ Tiny files

PDF magic bytes: 25 50 44 46

Why convert PDF to TXT?

A PDF is made for looking at, not for reusing. Copying text out of one often breaks lines in odd places, mixes up columns, or drags in page numbers and headers.

A plain text (TXT) file is the opposite: just the words, with no layout at all. Every editor, script, search tool and AI assistant can read it.

This converter reads the PDF's text layer page by page and writes it out in reading order. Lines that belong to one paragraph stay together, and a blank line separates paragraphs and pages.

Common reasons to convert PDF to text:

  • ›Pasting a report or article into a document, email or chat without the formatting mess
  • ›Searching or analysing many documents with simple tools
  • ›Giving a PDF's text to an AI tool, a translator or a screen reader
  • ›Keeping a lightweight, editable copy of a long document

Quality & file size: PDF to TXT

You get the words, not the look. Fonts, bold and italic, pictures and page layout are not kept — a .txt file can't hold them. The file is UTF-8, so accents, Greek and Cyrillic come through as they are.

Two-column pages, like research papers and newsletters, are read one column at a time. Older tools read straight across the page and mix the columns line by line. Tables and "label: value" forms keep their rows, with cells on one line. Sideways text in a margin (for example a stamp running up the edge) is added after the rest of that page.

Scanned PDFs are pictures of pages. They have no text layer to read, so you get a message that the file needs OCR (text recognition) instead of an empty file.

The text file is far smaller than the PDF: there are no fonts or images inside.

Frequently asked questions

Is a PDF a TXT file?
No. A PDF stores text together with fonts, layout and images so it looks the same everywhere. A TXT file holds only plain characters. Converting keeps the words and drops the rest.
How do I turn a PDF file into text?
Drop the PDF on this page. The converter reads its text page by page and gives you a .txt file to download. It runs in your browser, so the PDF is never uploaded.
How can I convert a PDF to text for free?
Use the converter above. The free tier converts 2 files a day, up to 10 MB each, with no sign-up. Pro removes the daily limit and takes PDFs up to 500 MB.
Why is my text file empty, or why do I get an OCR message?
Your PDF is a scan: the pages are pictures, so there is no text to read. It needs OCR (text recognition) first. Free tools such as OCRmyPDF can add a text layer, and then this converter can read it.
Will two-column PDFs come out in the right order?
Yes, in most cases. Pages with two columns of text are read one column at a time, the way you'd read them. Tables and forms keep their rows. Very unusual layouts can still come out mixed.
How do I copy text from a PDF without breaking the lines?
Convert it here instead of copying. Lines of the same paragraph are joined in the .txt file, and paragraphs are separated by a blank line, so the text pastes cleanly.
Can it read password-protected PDFs?
A PDF that needs a password to open can't be read without it. Open it in your PDF reader with the password, save a copy without protection, then convert that copy.

Your PDF file never leaves this tab — FormatDrop has no endpoint that receives file data. How it works