PDF to Text Converter
Extract text from any PDF instantly — free, secure, no sign up required.
Drop your PDF here
or tap to browse your files
PDF files · Up to 50 MB
Loading PDF processor…
Unable to process this file
How PDF to Text Works
Upload your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF file onto the upload area, or tap it to open your file browser.
Click Extract Text
Hit the Extract Text button. Your PDF is processed locally in your browser — no upload needed.
Copy or download
Copy the extracted text to your clipboard, or download it as a plain .txt file instantly.
Convert PDF to Text Online — No Upload Required
PDFDesk's PDF to Text converter extracts readable, editable text from any PDF document directly in your browser. Drop your file and get clean, copyable text in seconds — whether you have a contract, research paper, invoice, ebook, or form.
Most PDF text extractors upload your document to a remote server for processing. PDFDesk works differently. Using PDF.js — the same engine built into Firefox — your file is read and processed locally, entirely within your device's memory. Nothing is ever transmitted.
What You Can Do with Extracted Text
Once the PDF to text conversion is complete, you can copy the result to your clipboard with
one click, or download it as a plain
.txt
file. The extracted text works in any application: Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Notion,
email clients, or any code editor.
The PDF text extractor works best on digitally created PDFs — documents exported from Word, Excel, Google Docs, or any document editor. Scanned PDFs contain images of text rather than real text characters. OCR support for scanned documents is on the PDFDesk roadmap.
PDF to Text — FAQ
How to create PDF from text online free?
You can create a PDF from text online for free using PDFDesk's Text to PDF tool — no sign-up, no watermarks, and no file size limits. Here's how:
- Open the Text to PDF tool in your browser.
- Paste or type your text into the editor.
- Choose your preferred font, size, and page layout.
- Click "Convert to PDF" — your PDF is generated instantly.
The entire conversion happens client-side in your browser using jsPDF. No files are uploaded to any server, and the tool is 100% free with no daily limits.
How to copy text from PDF?
To copy text from a PDF, follow these steps:
- Open the PDF in any viewer — your browser, Adobe Acrobat, or Preview on Mac.
- Click and drag to highlight the text you want to copy.
- Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac) to copy.
If the text is not selectable, the PDF was created from a scanned image. In that case, use PDFDesk's PDF to Text tool or an OCR solution to extract the text first before copying.
How to create PDF from text?
Creating a PDF from text takes only seconds with PDFDesk:
- Go to the Text to PDF tool.
- Enter or paste your text content into the editor.
- Configure formatting — font family, font size, line spacing, and margins.
- Click "Convert to PDF" to download your file instantly.
The tool uses jsPDF, a client-side JavaScript library, so your PDF is built entirely in your browser. No installation, no account, and no file upload required.
How to add text to a PDF?
To add text to an existing PDF, you need a PDF editor. Here are the best options:
- Adobe Acrobat — use "Edit PDF," click the text area, and type directly.
- PDF24 or Smallpdf — free online tools with annotation and text-box features.
- LibreOffice Draw — free desktop app that opens PDFs and lets you add text boxes.
To add a text annotation, select the text tool, click where you want to insert text, type your content, then save or export as PDF. If you need to create a new PDF entirely from your own text, use PDFDesk's Text to PDF converter.
How to create PDF from text online?
To create a PDF from text online, visit PDFDesk's Text to PDF tool and follow these steps:
- Paste or type your text in the editor.
- Adjust formatting settings (font, size, page size) if needed.
- Click "Convert to PDF".
- Your PDF downloads instantly to your device.
The conversion runs entirely in your browser — no file upload, no waiting, and no account required. It's the fastest way to turn plain text into a properly formatted PDF online.
How to edit text in PDF?
Editing text inside a PDF requires a dedicated PDF editor. Your best options are:
- Adobe Acrobat (paid) — click "Edit PDF," then click any text block to modify it directly.
- Foxit PDF Editor — a paid alternative with similar inline editing capabilities.
- LibreOffice Draw or PDF24 — free tools that support basic text edits.
- Convert to Word first — use Word's "Open PDF" feature or a converter, edit in Word, then re-export as PDF.
Important: Scanned PDFs contain image-based text and require OCR before any content can be edited. Use Google Drive's built-in OCR or Adobe's Scan & OCR feature to make scanned PDFs editable.
How to convert text to PDF online free?
The easiest way to convert text to PDF online free is with PDFDesk's Text to PDF converter:
- Open the tool — no account needed.
- Type or paste your text into the editor.
- Set your page size (A4, Letter, etc.) and font options.
- Click "Convert to PDF" to download your file.
Your PDF is generated using jsPDF entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded to any server. The tool is 100% free with no watermarks and no daily conversion limits.
How to convert text to PDF?
There are several ways to convert text to PDF:
- PDFDesk Text to PDF tool — paste your text online and click convert. Fastest option, no software needed.
- Microsoft Word or Google Docs — open your text file, then go to File → Export as PDF or File → Download → PDF.
- Windows Print to PDF — press Ctrl+P in any app, select "Microsoft Print to PDF" as the printer, and click Print.
- Mac PDF export — go to File → Print, then click the PDF dropdown in the bottom-left and choose "Save as PDF."
For quick, no-install conversions, the PDFDesk Text to PDF tool is the fastest option.
How to make a PDF from text?
Making a PDF from text takes just a few seconds:
- Using PDFDesk — visit the Text to PDF tool, enter your text, choose formatting options, and click "Convert to PDF." Your file downloads immediately.
- Using Google Docs — write your text, then go to File → Download → PDF Document (.pdf).
- Using Microsoft Word — go to File → Save As, select PDF from the format dropdown, and save.
PDFDesk is ideal for plain-text conversions since it works instantly in your browser with no software to install.
How to save text as a PDF file?
Here are the most common ways to save text as a PDF file:
- Microsoft Word — File → Save As, choose PDF from the format list.
- Google Docs — File → Download → PDF Document (.pdf).
- Windows Print to PDF — press Ctrl+P, select "Microsoft Print to PDF" as the printer, click Print, and choose a save location.
- Mac — open the Print dialog (Cmd+P), click the PDF dropdown at the bottom-left, and choose "Save as PDF."
- PDFDesk — paste plain text into the Text to PDF tool and download it directly as a PDF in seconds.
How to extract text from a PDF document?
To extract text from a PDF document, choose the method that fits your use case:
- PDFDesk PDF to Text tool — upload your PDF at PDF to Text and get all readable text extracted instantly in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
- Adobe Acrobat — open the PDF, select all (Ctrl+A), and copy the text to your clipboard.
- Programmatic extraction — use pdfplumber (Python) or PDF.js (JavaScript) for automated, large-scale extraction.
Note: Scanned PDFs contain image-based text rather than machine-readable characters. These require OCR (Optical Character Recognition) before text can be extracted — see the next question for details.
How to convert a scanned PDF to editable text?
Converting a scanned PDF to editable text requires OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Here are the best free and paid options:
- Google Drive (free) — upload the scanned PDF, right-click it, and choose "Open with Google Docs." Google runs OCR automatically and opens the recognized text as an editable document.
- Adobe Acrobat — open the scanned PDF and use the Scan & OCR feature to recognize and make text selectable and editable.
- PDF24 / Smallpdf / iLovePDF — free online tools with built-in OCR that convert scanned PDFs to editable Word or text files.
- Tesseract OCR — a free, open-source OCR engine for developers needing programmatic scanned-PDF text extraction.
After OCR conversion, you can copy, edit, or export the recognized text as needed.