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CalcChef

PDF to Text Converter

Extract the text layer of a PDF of up to 25 MB and 100 pages, with optional page markers, a word count and a .txt download. Scans need OCR. How it works

Use the PDF to Text Converter

* Note: Scanned PDFs (images) require OCR and cannot be converted by this tool. It reads files up to 25 MB and 100 pages (10 MB of text), and refuses password-protected PDFs. Text is returned in the order the PDF stores it, so columns can be interleaved.

About the PDF to Text Converter

PDF to Text Converter reads the text layer of a PDF with pdf.js and gives you the text to copy or to download as a .txt file, with a --- Page N --- line before each page unless you untick it. It does not run OCR: a scanned PDF, whose pages are pictures of text, gives no text.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my PDF give no text?
Its pages are probably scanned images with no text layer, and the tool does not run OCR, so it reports that no selectable text was found. To check, open the PDF in a reader and try to select one word: if you cannot, the page is a picture. Run OCR in a desktop PDF app first, save the result, and choose that file here.
Can it open a password-protected PDF?
No. It shows "This PDF is password protected. Please remove the password and try again." Open the file in a PDF reader with its password, save or print it to a new PDF without one, and choose the new file.
Why are the columns of my PDF mixed up?
The text comes out in the order the PDF stores it, which is not always reading order: two columns can be interleaved line by line, and a table becomes lines of text without its grid.
What are the size limits?
25 MB per file, 100 pages, 10 MB of extracted text (10,485,760 characters including the page lines) and 100,000 separate text fragments on one page. A file over 25 MB is refused before it is read, with its size in the message. The fragment limit is reached only by unusual pages, such as a detailed map or drawing where every label is its own fragment; the tool then names the page and stops.
How are words and characters counted?
Words are runs of characters between spaces or line breaks, counted on the page text without the page lines. Characters are counted on the text as shown, so ticking the page lines adds to them: two short pages of 8 words are 79 characters with the lines and 47 without.
Is the PDF uploaded?
No. The file is read in your browser with a bundled copy of pdf.js and is not uploaded.

What it is for

Use it to get the text out of a PDF you cannot edit: a paragraph of a report to quote, two versions of a contract to paste into a diff tool, or a manual to search with your editor's find. Choose a PDF and the text of every page appears with page, word and character counts; copy it, or download it as a .txt file named after the PDF, so Lease 2026.pdf saves as Lease_2026.txt. Untick the page lines when you want the pages to run on as one text.

What is extracted

A PDF can carry a text layer: the characters it draws, with their positions. The tool reads that layer page by page, joins the fragments of each page and starts a new line where the PDF marks the end of one. With the box ticked, each page starts with a --- Page N --- line.

Example: two pages, the first holding Quarterly report, a line break and Revenue rose 4%, the second Page two text, with no line break marked after the last line of either page, give 8 words; with the page lines the text is 79 characters, without them 47. A PDF that marks a line end after the last line adds one character per page to the marked version.

What it does not do: there is no OCR, so a scanned page (a picture of text) gives nothing and the tool says it found no selectable text. Text comes out in the order the PDF stores it, so two columns can be interleaved and tables lose their grid. Password-protected PDFs are refused.

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