PDF to text, read off every page in order
PDFCheetah's free PDF to Text tool saves the words on the PDF pages you pick as a text file in your browser — in reading order or as laid out — and your file never leaves your device.
Updated
Choose a PDF file to extract its text
One file · up to 80 MB · PDF bytes are checked on this device
Processed on this device
Selecting and processing files stays in this browser.
Checking offline readiness
Offline availability is confirmed after this tool loads.
Why there is no daily limit, and no upload
How to convert a PDF to text
- Open the PDF whose text you want.
- Every page starts selected. Select only the ones you need, or leave them all.
- Choose Reading order for prose, or Keep the layout for tables and forms, and whether each page is marked.
- Select Extract text, then Download the .txt file or copy the text straight from the page.
Read on this device, in the order a person reads
PDFCheetah reads the text each page already carries — the same words you can select in a PDF viewer — and puts them back in reading order: columns one after the other, paragraphs kept apart, a line’s words left to right. Nothing is uploaded; the file is read in this browser tab, and the text never leaves it.
Current limitations
A scanned page is a picture of text, with no words to read, so it comes out empty and is named in the result: text recognition (OCR) is not available here yet. Reading order is worked out from where the words sit, so an unusual layout can come out in a different order than you read it — try Keep the layout then. Text drawn as shapes, rather than as characters, cannot be read. Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened here yet: use Unlock PDF first if you know the password.
Common questions
- Is my PDF uploaded to get the text out?
- No. The text is read from the PDF in your browser and the .txt file is written on this device. Download it, or copy the text straight from the page.
- Will two-column pages come out in the right order?
- Yes, in most documents. Reading order is worked out from where the words sit on the page: columns are read one after the other, and paragraphs are kept apart. If a page comes out in an odd order, choose Keep the layout, which puts the text where it sits on the page.
- Can I get text out of a scanned PDF?
- No. A scanned page is a picture of text with no words in it to read, so it comes out empty and the result names it. Text recognition (OCR) is not available here yet.
- Can I keep tables and forms lined up?
- Yes. Choose Keep the layout and every line of the page is written at its own row, with each piece of text at the column its position puts it in, so tables and forms stay lined up in a plain-text editor.
- Can I extract the text from only some pages?
- Yes. Every page starts selected; uncheck the ones you do not want, or type page numbers such as 1-4, 7 into the Pages field. Each page can be marked with a line saying where it starts.