# PDF to Text — Copy or Download the Words, Locally

> Extract the text from a PDF in your browser — copy it or download a .txt with page markers. Selectable-text PDFs only; nothing is uploaded.

Source: https://toolpantry.app/pdf-to-text

## About

Pull the text layer out of any selectable-text PDF — copy it or download a .txt with page markers. All local, nothing uploaded.

## Quick answer

How do I extract text from a PDF? Load the file and press "Extract text" — the words appear with page markers, ready to copy or download as .txt. Works on PDFs with selectable text; scanned pages have no text layer and need OCR instead.

## How to extract text from a PDF

1. **Add the PDF** — page count is detected locally.
2. **Press Extract text** — every page's text layer is read in order, with page markers.
3. **Copy or download** — paste into notes, translate it, or save the .txt for later.

## What it's good for

- **Quotes and citations** — pull exact wording out of papers and reports
- **Notes from e-books and manuals** — grab the sections you need without retyping
- **Feeding other tools** — count words, translate, or check a document's length with the [word counter](https://toolpantry.app/text-counter.html) and [token counter](https://toolpantry.app/token-counter.html)

## When it can't help

Scanned documents are images of pages — there's no text layer to read, and this tool will honestly report "no text found". That's a job for OCR software, which we deliberately don't offer (browser OCR quality is a lottery). If you need the pages as crisp images instead, [PDF to PNG](https://toolpantry.app/pdf-to-png.html) renders them at any resolution, and [PDF to JPG](https://toolpantry.app/pdf-to-jpg.html) keeps it lighter.

## Notes

Output is plain text in reading order — layout, tables, and columns are flattened. Scanned PDFs (photos of pages) contain no text layer; this tool will tell you when it finds nothing.

## FAQ

**How do I extract text from a PDF?**

Load the PDF, press Extract text, and the full document text appears with page markers. Copy it or download a .txt file — everything runs in your browser.

**Why is the text empty or garbled?**

That happens with scanned PDFs: they're photos of pages, so there is no text layer to extract. This tool reads selectable text only — scanned documents need OCR, which we don't do.

**Does it keep the layout?**

No. The output is plain text in reading order — great for copying quotes, notes, and references, but tables and columns come out flattened. For visual fidelity use PDF to PNG instead.

**Is my PDF uploaded?**

No. The text layer is read locally by a bundled PDF engine — the document never leaves your device.