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Extract Text
Copy text from a PDF
What is Extract Text?
PDFStream's text extractor reads the text layer from a PDF and presents it as plain, selectable text — ready to copy, search, or download.
Unlike PDF-to-CSV, this tool outputs unstructured plain text — the full text content of the document in reading order. For PDFs with a proper embedded text layer (not scanned images), extraction is immediate and accurate.
Use cases: copying a legal clause from a contract for quoting in a document, extracting an article for translation, pulling text out of a form for record-keeping, or preparing PDF content for input into an AI tool or text analysis pipeline.
How-to
- 1
Upload File
Select your PDF.
- 2
Extract
Click the extract text button.
- 3
Copy or Download
Copy the extracted text to your clipboard or download as a TXT file.
Practical tips
Works on PDFs with a text layer
If you can select text in a PDF viewer, extraction is accurate. Scanned image-only pages need OCR first.
Check complex layouts
Multi-column pages and tables may come out in a different order, so review the extracted text before reuse.
Need a file instead?
Use PDF to Text when you want a downloadable .txt file rather than copying text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I extract text from scanned PDFs?▼
Scanned PDFs are image-based. If there is no text layer, extraction won't work without OCR.
Is text extracted in layout order?▼
It is extracted in page order based on pdf.js. Complex layouts may have out-of-order text.
Is the file saved on the server?▼
No, all processing is local.
Last Updated: August 6, 2026
