Scanned PDFs too
Pages that are only pictures, from a scanner or a phone app, are read with text recognition. Normal PDFs are copied exactly and are not limited.
PDF to Text
PDF to Text converter AI
Need the text from a PDF? This PDF to text converter copies the text out of normal PDFs exactly and reads scanned pages with text recognition (OCR), so you can extract text from a PDF even when it is just a picture of paper. Paragraphs stay together, two-column pages are read in the right order and table columns are kept apart. It reads English, German, French and Spanish.
- Fast
- Private
- No sign-up
Drop your PDF here
One PDF file
Your PDF is read on our own server and deleted as soon as the conversion ends. It is never stored or shared.
How it works
PDF to Text in three steps
- Choose your PDFPick a PDF: a report, a contract, a book chapter or a scanned document. Up to 25 pages in one file.
- Watch it readEach page appears as soon as it is ready. Normal pages are copied in a moment; scanned pages are straightened and read with OCR, and unsure words are marked in yellow.
- Copy or downloadFix anything you like in the text box, then click Copy text or download a .txt file.
Why use it
PDF to Text with ToolsCampus
Keeps the reading order
Headings and paragraphs stay apart, two columns are read left column first, and table columns are separated by tabs so they paste into Excel or Google Sheets.
Check before you copy
Unsure words on scanned pages are marked yellow, so you know exactly where to look.
Questions, answered
PDF to Text questions
How do I extract text from a PDF?
Choose your PDF above. The converter reads every page and shows the text in a box; click Copy text or Download .txt. No sign-up is needed.
Can I copy text from a scanned PDF?
Yes. A scanned PDF is a picture of each page, so normal copying finds no text. This tool reads those pages with text recognition (OCR) and gives you real text you can copy.
Is my file uploaded?
Yes, on this page only. To read the text, the PDF is sent to our own server, converted in memory and deleted as soon as the conversion ends. It is never saved to disk, stored, shared or used for anything else.
Which languages can it read?
English, German, French and Spanish, including letters such as ä, ö, ü, ß, é, è, ç and ñ. Other languages written with the same alphabet, such as Italian, Portuguese and Dutch, usually work too. Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and Chinese are not supported yet. Text that is already inside a normal (digital) PDF is copied as it is, in any language.
Is there a limit?
Up to 25 pages and 20 MB per file. Normal (digital) PDFs are unlimited. Scanned pages take much more work, so each visitor can convert 25 scanned pages in any 24 hours, shared with our other OCR tools.
Comments
No comments yet. Ask a question or share a tip that helped you.