Everything you need in a free PDF text extractor
Pull text from PDFs
Extract selectable text from contracts, reports, and ebooks into plain text you can copy or download as a .txt file.
Page markers optional
Keep a continuous flow of paragraphs, or insert page markers so you always know which page each section came from.
100% browser-based
Extraction uses PDF.js on your device. Your documents stay private — nothing uploads to Focera.
Edit before you copy
Fix spacing or cleanup in the result panel, then copy to the clipboard or download a plain-text file.
How It Works
Getting text out of a PDF should be quick and private. Focera keeps the whole flow on one page — upload, choose a layout, extract, edit, and copy without an account or desktop installer.
- Upload your PDF. Drag and drop a file up to 25 MB (max 50 pages), or click the zone to browse from your device.
- Choose output layout. Use Continuous for flowing paragraphs, or Page markers when you want clear breaks between pages.
- Extract, edit, and copy. Click Extract text. Processing runs in your browser. Review the result, then copy or download a .txt file.
Jump back to the PDF to text extractor anytime to process another file.
Selectable Text vs Scanned PDFs
This tool reads text that already exists in the PDF (digital documents, exports from Word, and most reports). Image-only scans usually have no selectable text layer, so extraction may return empty pages.
For scanned paperwork, convert pages with PDF to JPG, then run Image to Text OCR on the images.
Popular Use Cases
- Reuse report content — Pull paragraphs from a PDF into notes, emails, or a new draft without retyping.
- Quote contracts and policies — Copy exact wording from a PDF into a reply or summary.
- Build plain-text archives — Download .txt copies for search, indexing, or lightweight storage.
- Prep content for other tools — Extract text before pasting into a translator, editor, or AI workflow.
Private by Design
Your PDF is read entirely in your browser. Focera does not receive the file, store pages, or run extraction on a remote server. When you leave the page, nothing remains on our infrastructure.
Related Tools
- PDF to Word — Convert PDFs into editable .docx documents.
- PDF to JPG — Convert PDF pages to JPEG images for sharing or OCR.
- Image to Text — OCR photos and screenshots into editable text.
- PDF Editor — Reorder, rotate, or extract pages before pulling text.
- Merge PDF — Combine multiple PDFs into one file before extracting.
- Split PDF — Break a PDF into pages or ranges before extracting.
- Compress PDF — Shrink PDFs for email and uploads when you need a smaller document.