How to extract text from scanned PDFs online for free (Local OCR)
Struggling with a PDF where you can't select or copy text? Learn how to extract text from scanned PDFs safely in your browser using local OCR fallback.
4 min read
Extract Text
Extract Text
Extract the text layer from a PDF to copy or save as a plain .txt file.
Copy or .txt100% local processing
Privacy
Your documents do not leave your device.
PDFTasker runs in your browser. No uploads. No server detour. No tricks.
Extraction guide
- 1. Load the source PDF.
- 2. Run the extraction in your browser.
- 3. Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
Load document
Source document
Add a PDF and let the browser pull the text from every page.
Drop files here, or tap to choose them.
Source file
No document selected yet.
Output
The extracted text is plain text — copy it or save it as a .txt file.
Pull the text out
Extract Text from PDF Locally
Free
Sometimes you need the words, not the document — a clause to quote, a paragraph to translate, a report to search. PDFTasker reads the text layer of a PDF right in the browser and hands it back to copy or save as a .txt file. The document is never uploaded, which matters because the files worth extracting are often the private ones.
Privacy and trust
Text without the upload
Extracting text is just reading — the same work your browser does to display a PDF — so there is no reason to send the file to a server. PDFTasker parses the text layer locally and returns plain text in seconds. Scanned PDFs have no text layer to read, so those need OCR; for everything with real text, the work stays on your device.
How to use it
How to extract text from a PDF
- 01Add the PDF you want to extract text from.
- 02Start the extraction and let the browser read every page.
- 03Review the extracted text in the result panel.
- 04Copy the text or download it as a .txt file.
FAQ
PDF text extraction FAQ
How does text extraction work?
The tool reads the text layer that most PDFs store alongside the visible page, using the same engine your browser uses to display PDFs. It runs entirely on your device after the page loads, so the document is never uploaded. You get the text back to copy or save as a plain .txt file within seconds for most documents.
Why is my result empty?
If the extraction returns nothing, the PDF is almost certainly a scan — an image of a page with no text layer. Extraction can only read text that is actually stored in the file. For those, this tool now offers OCR: when a PDF comes back empty, an Extract with OCR option appears that reads the letters straight from the page images, on your device.
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. The PDF is read in your browser and the extracted text never leaves your device. That matters because the documents people pull text from — contracts, reports, statements — are often the ones worth keeping private. Close the tab when you are done and nothing about the file is left behind on a server.
Will the formatting be preserved?
Extraction returns the readable text with line breaks, but it does not reproduce layout such as columns, tables, headers, or styling. A two-column page may read in an unexpected order, and tables flatten into lines. For plain reading, search, or pasting elsewhere the result is usually fine; for exact layout, keep the original PDF.
Does it work with Korean and other languages?
Yes. As long as the PDF stores a real text layer, the language does not matter — Korean, English, numbers, and mixed content all extract the same way. A scanned image with no text layer is the one case extraction cannot read, but the built-in OCR fallback handles those too, recognizing both English and Korean.
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