How to extract text from a PDF
Extracting text from a PDF means saving the text that already exists inside the file into a plain .txt. On BestPDFInTheWorld it takes three steps: drag the PDF into the window, choose the pages (or leave empty for the whole document) and download the .txt. Everything runs in your browser, the file never leaves your computer, and you can choose whether you want a line with the page number between pages. One important note: a scanned PDF is a photograph of the page and has no text inside; in that case the tool tells you so instead of handing you an empty file, and the way out is OCR. This tool is part of the Premium subscription, EUR 1.99 a month, which removes the limits on every tool and adds OCR. Sign PDF opens on the free plan, with one signature a day.
Verified 2026-08-12
- Three steps, nothing to install: choose the file, choose the pages, download the .txt.
- Plain text, no formatting: a .txt has no bold, tables, columns or images, just the words.
- Optional page separation: a line with the page number between pages, which you can switch off.
- No uploads: all processing runs in the browser, and the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
- This tool is part of the Premium subscription, EUR 1.99 a month, which removes the limits on every tool and adds OCR. Sign PDF opens on the free plan, with one signature a day.
How to extract text from a PDF, step by step
Extracting the text of a PDF takes under a minute and needs no installations:
- Open the Extract text tool.
- Drag the PDF into the window, or click to pick it.
- Choose the pages: leave empty for the whole document, or give ranges (10-25) and single numbers (3), separated by comma.
- Download the .txt you get at the end, plain text, with no formatting at all.
No upload and no account: the work is all done by your processor, and the result appears instantly, ready to open in any editor.
Tips for extracting text from PDF
- A scanned PDF has no text. If the file is a photograph of the page, the letters are pixels and there is no text to extract; the tool tells you so instead of handing you an empty file. The way out is OCR, which reads the image and gives text back.
- The formatting is lost on purpose. A .txt has no bold, tables, columns or images. If you want to keep the appearance, use PDF to Word; if you want the tables as data, PDF to Excel.
- Scrambled text in documents with columns. A PDF does not store reading order; in magazines and two column academic papers, interleaved output is common.
- Missing or extra spaces. PDFs store distances between chunks of text; the tool decides where a space belongs from that distance, proportional to the font size.
- Odd accents when you open the file. The .txt comes out in UTF-8, the current standard; older editors assume another encoding. Opening it with a modern editor solves it.
- It works offline. Once the page has loaded once, you can extract text with the network off.
A scanned PDF has no text: the way out is OCR
This is the limitation that surprises people most when extracting text: a scanned PDF seems to have text, you can see it on the page, but it is an image. The letters are pixels, and inside the file there is no text layer to extract. Instead of handing you an empty file, the tool tells you exactly that.
The way out is OCR, optical character recognition, which reads the image of the page and returns real text. The OCR tool recognises Portuguese, English and Spanish, runs in your browser like every other tool here and is the one tool in the catalogue that requires a subscription. If your PDF comes from a scanner, that is where you should start.
Is extracting text from a PDF free? What are the limits?
This tool is part of the Premium subscription, EUR 1.99 a month, which removes the limits on every tool and adds OCR. Sign PDF opens on the free plan, with one signature a day.
| Plan | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Only Sign PDF opens without paying, with one signature a day and files up to 10 MB. |
| Premium (EUR 1.99/month) | This tool is part of the subscription: no limits anywhere, plus OCR and larger batches. |
Questions about extracting text from PDF.
Do I need an account to extract text from a PDF?
Yes. The account (magic link, no password) is needed for the subscription. This tool is part of the Premium subscription, EUR 1.99 a month, which removes the limits on every tool and adds OCR. Sign PDF opens on the free plan, with one signature a day. You only need to subscribe to remove the limits, or to use OCR.
My PDF is scanned. Why does it say there is no text?
Because it is a photograph of the page: the letters are pixels and there is no text inside. The tool tells you so instead of handing you an empty file. The way out is OCR, which reads the image and gives text back; it recognises Portuguese, English and Spanish and runs in the browser.
The text came out scrambled, with sentences mixed up. Is that normal?
It happens in documents with two or more columns and on pages with text boxes scattered around. A PDF does not store reading order, it stores chunks of text with a position each; the tool follows the order they appear in the file. In magazines and two column academic papers, interleaving is common.
Do I lose the formatting when extracting the text?
Yes, and that is the point: a .txt has only the words, with no bold, tables, columns or images. If you want to keep the appearance, use PDF to Word; for tables as data, PDF to Excel.
What is the page separation?
A line with the page number between the text of one page and the next, so you know where each part came from. You can switch it off and get the text in one continuous run.
Can I extract just one chapter of the PDF?
You can. The pages field takes ranges (10-25) and single numbers (3), separated by comma.
Are my files kept on your servers?
No. Nothing is sent to a server: the processing runs in your browser, start to finish.
Keep reading
How to convert PDF to Excel
Step by step to move a PDF table into a spreadsheet, as a .csv, without sending the file to any server.
How to convert text to PDF
Step by step to turn a .txt file into a paginated PDF, with the font size and margin of your choice, without uploading anything.
How to scan to PDF
Step by step to photograph sheets of paper with your camera and get a PDF, one page per photo, without uploading anything.
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