Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse

In this guide

How it works

Open the PDF and check whether you can select the text you need.
Choose PDF to text and generate the TXT output.
Open the downloaded text file and compare important passages with the original PDF.

Input, result and limits

Property	Details
Input	PDF
Output	TXT
Important limitation	Text output without reconstructing pictures, tables or page layout.

The workflow in six views

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — Input: Open the PDF and check whether you can select the text you need. — 1Input
Open the PDF and check whether you can select the text you need.

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — easyPDF24: Choose PDF to text and generate the TXT output. — 2Settings
Choose PDF to text and generate the TXT output.

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — Apply: PDF → TXT — 3Apply
PDF → TXT

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — Before and after: Visual page → Extracted text — 4Before and after
Visual page → Extracted text

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — Review: Compare names, figures and special characters Check reading order and paragraphs Keep the original for comparison — 5Review
Compare names, figures and special characters Check reading order and paragraphs Keep the original for comparison

Convert PDF text to a TXT file for reuse — Save: Open the downloaded text file and compare important passages with the original PDF. — 6Save
Open the downloaded text file and compare important passages with the original PDF.

Example

Before

Visual page

After

Extracted text

Check these details in the result

Compare names, figures and special characters
Check reading order and paragraphs
Keep the original for comparison

Useful next steps

PDF OCR: make scanned text searchable	Recognize printed German or English text in PDF scans. Add a searchable text layer and check the recognized content.
Convert PDF text to an editable Word document	Export selectable PDF text as a DOCX file. easyPDF24 creates a simple Word document rather than reproducing the original page layout.
Edit a PDF: text, images and annotations	Edit PDF text, add images and mark up pages. Review your changes in the easyPDF24 preview before applying them.
Export PDF text as a readable HTML file	Extract readable text from selected PDF pages into HTML with page headings. Images, table grids and the original page layout are not reconstructed.

Expect wording rather than page design

Plain text is useful when you need the content of a report in a text editor or a searchable note. It does not keep fonts, pictures, table borders or the visual arrangement of the PDF. Columns and tables may be extracted in an unexpected reading order. Review names, amounts and paragraph boundaries before reusing a passage, especially when the source has a complex layout.

Treat scanned pages separately

An image-only PDF contains no text for this export to collect. Run OCR first for a supported scan, then check the recognized text and export it. If a document mixes digital text with scanned pages, the TXT output can omit the image-only content even though other pages export successfully. Compare the output against each relevant source page instead of assuming it is complete.

Frequently asked questions

Can I preserve the original table layout?

No. TXT contains characters and line breaks, not a table structure or page design. Keep the PDF alongside the text when the layout matters for understanding values.

How is this different from PDF to Word?

TXT is a plain text file. The Word tool packages extracted text into DOCX with page breaks, but it also does not reconstruct the original images, tables or layout.