Extract text from a PDF
Pull clean plain text out of any PDF in your browser. Text PDFs extract instantly; scanned PDFs go through in-browser OCR.
Files are processed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to any server.
How it works
- 1
Upload PDF
Drop or pick the PDF.
- 2
We extract text
Text-based PDFs are parsed instantly. Scanned PDFs go through OCR in your browser.
- 3
Edit & download
Clean up artifacts if you want, then download a .txt file.
Frequently asked questions
Is my file uploaded?
No. Extraction and the OCR fallback both run in your browser tab. Verifiable in DevTools → Network.
How does OCR work in the browser?
Tesseract.js runs a WebAssembly OCR engine in a Web Worker. The first run downloads a ~3 MB English model; subsequent runs are fast.
Will it work on a poorly scanned PDF?
Quality depends on the scan. Clean, straight, high-contrast scans give the best results; faded or skewed scans return lower-quality text.
Max file size?
Bounded by your device memory; we've tested up to 50 MB.
Will it preserve layout?
Plain text loses layout. For a searchable PDF that keeps the original page, use OCR PDF.
Embed this tool
Let your visitors use PDF to Text without leaving your site. Paste the snippet below into any HTML page. Files stay private — everything runs in the visitor's browser.
<iframe
src="https://pdfwox.com/embed/pdf-to-text"
width="100%"
height="600"
style="border:none;border-radius:8px"
title="pdf-to-text tool"
allow="downloads"
loading="lazy"
></iframe>
<script>
window.addEventListener('message',function(e){
if(e.data&&e.data.type==='privpdf-resize'){
var f=document.querySelector('iframe[src="https://pdfwox.com/embed/pdf-to-text"]');
if(f)f.style.height=e.data.height+'px';
}
});
</script>The embed runs entirely in the visitor's browser — no files are uploaded. The iframe resizes automatically to fit its content via postMessage.
Deeper guide