Extract Plain Text - Free Online Browser Tool

Extract all selectable text into a clean TXT or structured JSON file.

Copying text out of a PDF one selection at a time is slow and loses structure. This tool pulls the entire text layer out in one pass — as a clean plain-text file or as structured JSON when you need to know which page each passage came from.

This extract plain text utility runs completely inside your web browser. Your document is opened locally and processed on your own device using JavaScript and WebAssembly, so your file is never uploaded to any server. There is no signup, no watermark and no limit on how many documents you can handle.

  • 100% client-side - files never leave your device
  • Instant processing, no upload wait
  • Works on desktop, tablet and mobile
  • Free forever, no account required

Common next steps: Word Frequency & Keyword Stats, Search Text in PDF, PDF Text-to-Speech (Audio Reader), Extract Hyperlinks.

How to Use the Extract Plain Text Tool

Four steps, and the whole thing runs locally on your own device.

  1. Load the PDF

    Drop in any document that has a text layer. Scanned documents have none and will return empty.

  2. Choose the output format

    Plain text gives a continuous readable document; JSON preserves page boundaries and positions for analysis.

  3. Extract

    The text layer is read locally and written out with line breaks and reading order preserved.

  4. Download

    Save the TXT or JSON file. Nothing is uploaded and no quota applies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my scanned PDF return no text?

A scan is a picture of a page, not text. There is no text layer to extract until the document goes through OCR first.

Is the reading order correct for multi-column layouts?

For well-formed documents, yes. Complicated multi-column pages can extract in an awkward order because the visual layout is not always encoded in the text stream.

What is the difference between TXT and JSON output?

TXT gives you a clean readable document. JSON includes page numbers and text positions, which is what you need for indexing, search or analysis.

Does the extracted text match the document exactly?

Character for character, yes — but there is no spell checking or cleanup. Line breaks mid-sentence from PDF layout are preserved.

Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF?

Not until it is decrypted. Remove the password with Unlock PDF first, then run the extraction.