How to extract text from a PDF into a TXT file
A TXT file is helpful when you want to reuse a passage, search a report with another program or move text into a plain-text workflow. The important first check is whether the PDF already contains selectable text.
Open PDF to Text ↗Step-by-step instructions
- Choose an unencrypted PDF up to 5 MB.
- Select Extract text.
- Download the TXT file and check the reading order.
A practical example
Open your source PDF in a viewer and try selecting a sentence. If the selection follows the words, PDFDesk may be able to extract them. If only an entire page image can be selected, the file probably needs OCR. Upload an unencrypted PDF of no more than 5 MB and 100 pages.
Limits and common mistakes
Text extraction follows the information stored inside the PDF. A two-column newsletter can produce an unexpected reading order, and a table may lose its visual columns. The output is not a reconstruction of the original layout.
Check your downloaded result
Open the TXT download and search for a known phrase near the beginning and end of the document. Check names, numbers and column boundaries before reusing the result. An empty scan will not become searchable through this tool; it needs OCR first.
Where processing happens
This tool sends your submitted content over HTTPS to the PDFDesk server. Results are returned directly; temporary processing files are removed when the request finishes. There are no public document download links.
Frequently asked questions
Can this tool read a scanned PDF?
No. It extracts existing selectable text and does not perform OCR. Image-only scans need an OCR tool.
What are the file and page limits?
Use an unencrypted PDF up to 5 MB and 100 pages. A hosting upload limit may impose a smaller maximum.
Will columns and tables stay in the same order?
Not always. Text order depends on how the source PDF stores its content. Review extracted text from multi-column pages and tables.