FreePDF logoFreePDF

PDF to Text

Extract the text from a PDF as a plain .txt file.

100% Free. No sign-up, no watermarks, no limits
📂

Drop a file here, or browse

PDF · APPLICATION/PDF

Off by default. Tick this if your PDF is a scan or photo with no selectable text — OCR reads the characters from the page images so their text can be extracted too. It makes the conversion slower.

PDF to Text — Free Online Converter

Just the words, nothing else: this pulls the raw text out of a PDF into a plain .txt file, handy for pasting into another app or feeding to a script. Working from a scan instead of a digital PDF? Flip on the OCR option and it reads the text straight off the page images.

How to convert PDF to Text in 3 steps

  1. 1Drag your PDF into the box above, or click to browse.
  2. 2Optional: tick “Run OCR” if your PDF is a scan, so text can be read from the page images.
  3. 3We extract the text from every page into a single .txt file — download it instantly, free.

Frequently asked questions

How is PDF to Text different from PDF to Word or Markdown?

This tool outputs a plain .txt file — just the raw text, with no fonts, styling, tables, or markup. Choose PDF to Word to keep editable formatting, or PDF to Markdown for lightweight structure like headings and lists.

What does the OCR option do?

OCR (optical character recognition) reads the letters from the images inside a scanned or photographed PDF, so their text can be extracted as well. It's turned off by default because it's slower and unnecessary for normal digital PDFs that already contain real text — leave it unticked unless your file is a scan or the extracted text comes back empty.

Can I convert a scanned PDF to text?

Yes — tick the “Run OCR” option before converting. Without OCR, scanned or image-only PDFs have no selectable text to pull out; with it switched on, the text is recognised directly from the page images. Clear, high-contrast scans give the most accurate results.

Is PDF to Text really free?

Yes — PDF to Text is 100% free. There's no account to create, no subscription, no trial, and no daily limit. Convert as many files as you like.

Are my files safe and private?

Your files are processed in memory and never stored on our servers. Any temporary files are deleted automatically right after processing finishes.