How is this different from other online PDF tools?

Most online PDF tools send your files to a remote server for processing. This tool processes everything locally in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your files are never transmitted to any server, which means your document content stays entirely under your control.

Are my PDF files uploaded?

No. Your files are read directly by your browser. Your files are never transmitted over the network. The tool works entirely within the browser tab you have open.

Can I verify that files are not uploaded?

Yes. Open your browser's developer tools (F12), go to the Network tab, and watch for any outgoing requests while using the tool. You will see no file data leave your browser. The site may record an anonymous page-view count, which never includes your files and can be disabled.

Does this tool work offline?

Yes, once the page has loaded the tool processes your files entirely in your browser; tool functionality needs no network connection. You can disconnect from the internet and continue using it.

What happens when I refresh the page?

Because nothing is stored on a server, refreshing the page clears your current session. Any files you had selected will need to be selected again.

Does this tool store my files?

No. Files are held in browser memory only for as long as the page is open. Closing or refreshing the page discards them. Nothing is written to disk by the tool, and nothing is sent to a server.

Can this tool unlock password-protected PDFs?

No. This tool does not attempt to remove or bypass PDF password protection. If you know the password, the Unlock PDF tool on this site can remove it locally; then this tool can process the file.

What technologies does this tool use?

This tool uses pdf.js (Mozilla's client-side PDF engine) in a Web Worker to read the embedded text layer from each PDF page within your browser. Your files never leave your browser.

Does this tool use WebAssembly?

No. pdf.js is a plain JavaScript library — it does not use WebAssembly. All PDF text extraction happens in client-side JavaScript within your browser.

How do I extract the text from my PDF?

Pick a PDF with the file picker, then press the extract button. The text from each page is read locally in your browser, shown in a preview box, and you can save it as a .txt file.

Why did my scanned PDF come back with no text?

This tool reads the embedded text layer that a PDF stores, and scanned or image-only documents have no such layer, so nothing can be pulled out. When that happens you will see a notice and no text file is offered, because there is no character data to recover without OCR.

Why doesn't the extracted text match the visual layout of the page?

The tool walks the text items pdf.js reports for each page and keeps their line breaks, but it does not reflow columns, so multi-column pages, tables, and complex layouts may not line up with what you see on screen. Pages are joined with blank lines, and PDFs with unusual or custom font encodings can also produce garbled characters even when the page looks fine.

Does Extract Text from PDF cost anything to use?

Extract Text from PDF is completely free to use — no account, no sign-up, and no cap on how many PDFs you run through it, and it always will be. Your PDF is read directly by your browser using pdf.js, which pulls the embedded text layer page by page and hands you a plain .txt file; the file itself stays in your browser memory the entire time and is never transmitted anywhere.

Extract Text from PDF Privately — Runs Entirely in Your Browser

Select a PDF, and the text layer from each page is extracted locally in your browser and offered as a downloadable text file — no upload.

Quick answer

What it does: Select a PDF, and the text layer from each page is extracted locally in your browser and offered as a downloadable text file — no upload.
Free?: Yes — 100% free, no account or sign-up.
Files uploaded?: No — everything is processed in your browser.
Works offline?: Yes — once the page has loaded.
Best for: Copying contract terms out of a fixed-layout PDF into a text editor for review or comparison.
Good to know: This tool can only extract text that is embedded as a text layer in the PDF. Scanned PDFs and image-only PDFs do not have a text layer, so no text will be extracted.

How it works

Select a PDF file from your device using the file picker.
The file is read into browser memory — no data leaves your browser.
pdf.js loads the document in a Web Worker and calls getTextContent() for each page to retrieve the embedded text layer.
The extracted text from all pages is combined in order and offered as a downloadable .txt file.
All temporary data is released from memory once the download is complete.

When to use this tool

Copying contract terms out of a fixed-layout PDF into a text editor for review or comparison.
Pulling the body text from a research paper PDF to paste into a translation or summarisation tool.
Scraping invoice line-item data from a PDF as a first step before importing into a spreadsheet.
Note: only works on PDFs with an embedded text layer — scanned or image-only PDFs have no text to extract.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from other online PDF tools?: Most online PDF tools send your files to a remote server for processing. This tool processes everything locally in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your files are never transmitted to any server, which means your document content stays entirely under your control.
Are my PDF files uploaded?: No. Your files are read directly by your browser. Your files are never transmitted over the network. The tool works entirely within the browser tab you have open.
Can I verify that files are not uploaded?: Yes. Open your browser's developer tools (F12), go to the Network tab, and watch for any outgoing requests while using the tool. You will see no file data leave your browser. The site may record an anonymous page-view count, which never includes your files and can be disabled.
Does this tool work offline?: Yes, once the page has loaded the tool processes your files entirely in your browser; tool functionality needs no network connection. You can disconnect from the internet and continue using it.
What happens when I refresh the page?: Because nothing is stored on a server, refreshing the page clears your current session. Any files you had selected will need to be selected again.
Does this tool store my files?: No. Files are held in browser memory only for as long as the page is open. Closing or refreshing the page discards them. Nothing is written to disk by the tool, and nothing is sent to a server.
Can this tool unlock password-protected PDFs?: No. This tool does not attempt to remove or bypass PDF password protection. If you know the password, the Unlock PDF tool on this site can remove it locally; then this tool can process the file.
What technologies does this tool use?: This tool uses pdf.js (Mozilla's client-side PDF engine) in a Web Worker to read the embedded text layer from each PDF page within your browser. Your files never leave your browser.
Does this tool use WebAssembly?: No. pdf.js is a plain JavaScript library — it does not use WebAssembly. All PDF text extraction happens in client-side JavaScript within your browser.
How do I extract the text from my PDF?: Pick a PDF with the file picker, then press the extract button. The text from each page is read locally in your browser, shown in a preview box, and you can save it as a .txt file.
Why did my scanned PDF come back with no text?: This tool reads the embedded text layer that a PDF stores, and scanned or image-only documents have no such layer, so nothing can be pulled out. When that happens you will see a notice and no text file is offered, because there is no character data to recover without OCR.
Why doesn't the extracted text match the visual layout of the page?: The tool walks the text items pdf.js reports for each page and keeps their line breaks, but it does not reflow columns, so multi-column pages, tables, and complex layouts may not line up with what you see on screen. Pages are joined with blank lines, and PDFs with unusual or custom font encodings can also produce garbled characters even when the page looks fine.
Does Extract Text from PDF cost anything to use?: Extract Text from PDF is completely free to use — no account, no sign-up, and no cap on how many PDFs you run through it, and it always will be. Your PDF is read directly by your browser using pdf.js, which pulls the embedded text layer page by page and hands you a plain .txt file; the file itself stays in your browser memory the entire time and is never transmitted anywhere.