No. The document is parsed in your browser by pdf.js. Nothing is transmitted or stored.

Why did I get no text back?

The PDF has no embedded text layer, which means it is a scan or an export of images. Reading it would require OCR, which SnapTools does not currently offer — we would rather return nothing than guess.

Is the layout preserved?

Page boundaries are marked, but columns, tables and precise positioning are not reconstructed. You get the text content, not the visual layout.

PDF to Text

Runs in your browser

Extract the text from a PDF, with page boundaries preserved. Reads the document in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Drop PDFs hereor click to choose — nothing is uploaded

About this tool

A PDF that was generated from a word processor or a web page carries a text layer: the actual characters, positioned on the page. This tool reads that layer directly with pdf.js and returns it as plain text, marking where each page starts. That is very different from a scanned PDF, which contains only a photograph of a page — there are no characters to read, and extraction correctly returns nothing rather than inventing content.

How to use

Add a PDF file.
Click Extract.
Read the text inline, or download it as a .txt file.

When to use this tool

Quoting from a report without retyping it.
Getting a word count for a PDF manuscript.
Feeding document content into a script or spreadsheet.
Checking what text a PDF actually contains before sending it.

Tips

If nothing comes back, the PDF is almost certainly a scan — it holds images of text, not text.
Multi-column layouts are read in the order the text was written to the file, which may not match visual reading order.
Pair this with the Word Counter to measure a PDF's length.

Limitations

Reads the embedded text layer only. A scanned PDF contains images of text and will return nothing — that needs OCR, which SnapTools does not yet do.
Complex multi-column layouts may not preserve reading order.

FAQ

Is my PDF uploaded?: No. The document is parsed in your browser by pdf.js. Nothing is transmitted or stored.
Why did I get no text back?: The PDF has no embedded text layer, which means it is a scan or an export of images. Reading it would require OCR, which SnapTools does not currently offer — we would rather return nothing than guess.
Is the layout preserved?: Page boundaries are marked, but columns, tables and precise positioning are not reconstructed. You get the text content, not the visual layout.