PDF to Text
Convert PDF to text with Eliten: extract all the text from a PDF as a plain .txt file in reading order, right in your browser.
No install
Private
What is a PDF to text converter?
A PDF to text converter is an online tool that extracts the text from a PDF and returns it as plain, editable text you can download as a .txt file, without installing software. Native PDFs are read directly, and scanned or image-only PDFs are processed with OCR. Students, researchers, and professionals use it to reuse, edit, or search PDF content.
How the PDF to Text tool works
- Step 1
Upload your PDF
Simply drag and drop your PDF file anywhere on the page, upload from your computer or system, click Choose file, or pick a document you’ve uploaded recently. Files up to 100 MB and 200 pages are accepted for PDF documents.
- Step 2
Extract the text
The PDF to text converter can extract text from PDF files by reading the file’s own text layer and sending only scanned pages through OCR, so you can extract text from PDF pages of both kinds in one run.
- Step 3
Preview and download your .txt file
Check the preview of your result, then click Download text file to save the full text in TXT format, ready to open and copy text from in any editor.
Why use Eliten’s PDF to Text tool
Text in reading order, running heads removed
The converter returns text in the order you’d read it and removes running heads, the repeated headers that would otherwise appear at the top of every page. You get one continuous text you can edit right away instead of cleaning up page breaks by hand.
Works on native and scanned PDFs
Scans saved as PDF and image-only PDFs work too, not just files with selectable text, thanks to built-in OCR technology. Scanned documents are common: according to Adobe, its scanning app alone had been used to create more than 2.5 billion documents by 2023.
Plain .txt that opens anywhere
The output is a plain text file, the simplest text format there is. It opens in any text editor, word processor, or note-taking app on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and plain text files are often used for raw data because they’re easy for software to read and process, so they also paste cleanly into other tools.
No installation required
The PDF to text converter runs entirely in your browser, with no program to install and nothing to update.
Part of an all-in-one AI workspace
The tool sits alongside Eliten’s other PDF tools and AI text tools, so you can extract a document’s text and keep working with it in one place.
Conversion quality, file security & privacy
Native PDF text extracts without recognition errors, because it’s already stored as characters in the file. Text recognized with OCR depends on scan quality: blurry, skewed, or low-contrast pages can produce misread characters, so proofread names, numbers, and dates before reusing them.
Uploaded files are handled securely and are never used to train models.
PDF to text vs other approaches
| Eliten PDF to Text | Copy from PDF viewer | Desktop PDF software | Code libraries (PyPDF, pdftotext) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scanned PDFs (OCR) | Yes | No (selectable text only) | Yes | Some (OCR add-on) |
| Speed | Instant | Manual | Moderate | Fast (setup needed) |
| Install required | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | Free preview, plan for full text | Built in | Paid / subscription | Open-source |
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore more AI tools in Eliten
Extracting text is one step. Eliten’s other tools cover the rest of the document workflow:
- AI PDF SummarizerSummarize a PDF and ask questions about it
- Text SummarizerTurn long text into key points
- AI RewriterRewrite text with AI
- AI Grammar CheckerCheck grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- PDF to WordTurn a PDF into an editable Word document
Next step after your extracted text: get a personalized plan from your Personal AI Coach.