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ALCO Tools · PDFs

PDF to text

Extract selectable text from a PDF and save it as a text file.

Opening tool…

Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded to ALCO.

Overview

About this tool.


Turn a PDF with selectable text into a plain text file. Copy the extracted text or download it for editing, searching or reuse, with a progress indicator and a cancel option.

Common questions

Using this tool.


How do I extract the text?

Choose a PDF and select Extract text. Copy the result or save it as a plain text file.

Can this read scanned pages?

No. It extracts existing selectable text and does not perform OCR. Scanned pages without a text layer produce an empty result.

Will columns and tables keep their layout?

Plain text has no page layout. Reading order depends on how the PDF was created, so check text from columns and tables before reusing it.

What files can I use?

Use an unencrypted PDF up to 5 MB and 50 pages. Unusual font resources may not be supported. Very complex files stop after 30 seconds; you can cancel sooner.

Does ALCO receive my document?

No. Extraction happens in a browser worker, and document contents are not uploaded.

Need more than a quick tool?

These are free and always will be. If one of them is solving a problem you keep having, the underlying issue is usually worth a conversation.

Interested in

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