How to Extract Text from a PDF
Need the words from a PDF without the formatting, to paste into an email, a doc, or a search? Serbabisa pulls out the text layer in seconds, reading the file locally in your browser.
OPEN THE TOOLPDF to TextStep by step
- 1Open the PDF to Text tool
Choose PDF to Text from the directory to open the dropzone.
- 2Drop your PDF
Drag the file in or click to browse. Serbabisa reads the page count so you know it's the right document.
- 3Extract the text
Press Extract text. Serbabisa reads every page and pulls out its selectable text layer.
- 4Copy or download
Review the result in the preview box, then copy it to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file.
Frequently asked
Does this work on scanned PDFs?
Only if the PDF already has a selectable text layer. Purely scanned image pages have no text to extract, since there is no OCR step.
What happens if no text is found?
Serbabisa tells you no selectable text was found, which usually means the PDF is a scanned image rather than real text.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. It's read and processed in your browser tab, and never leaves your device.
Ready to try it?
Do it now, and your file never leaves the tab.