Is your PDF scanned or digital?
Open the PDF and try to select one word with the cursor. If the word highlights, the PDF has a text layer: you can select all, copy and paste, and you may not need a converter at all. If the whole page highlights like a photo, or nothing highlights, the page is an image. That is a scanned PDF, and only OCR gets the words out.
- Digital PDF
- Made from Word, a browser or an app. Text can be selected and copied.
- Scanned PDF
- Made by a scanner or a phone scan app. Each page is a picture of the paper.
- Mixed PDF
- A digital file with scanned pages or stamps added. The scanned parts need OCR.
How to convert a PDF to text
- Choose the PDF. Any PDF up to 5 MB. For a file with more pages, the tool reads page 1 and says how many pages the file has.
- Press Get the text. The page goes through OCR, so a scan works the same as a digital file.
- Check the first lines. They appear before you sign up, so you see whether the scan was readable.
- Enter your email and the code. The 6-digit code we send opens the full text and creates a free account if you have none.
- Copy it or download it. Copy the text, or download a .txt file or a Word document with headings and tables rebuilt.
Scanned PDF to text: what comes out
OCR reads the page in reading order. Headings, paragraphs and lists come back as lines of text. Tables come back as rows, one line per row with a tab between the cells, which pastes into a spreadsheet as columns. The Word download keeps the same table as a real Word table.
Clear print on a straight scan comes back close to word for word. Handwriting, faint stamps, signatures and low-resolution scans come back with errors or not at all. Check names, amounts and long numbers against the page before you use them.
Other ways to get text out of a PDF
| Option | Scanned pages | Limits | Tables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copy and paste from a PDF reader | Nothing to copy, the page is an image | None for digital PDFs | Cells often run together |
| Microsoft Word, opening the PDF | A page of mostly graphics may show up as an image that can't be edited[1] | Works best with files that are mostly text[1] | Word guesses tables from lines[1] |
| Google Drive, Open with Google Docs | Read with OCR | 2 MB or smaller[2] | Not likely to be detected[2] |
| LoreAI PDF to text | Read with OCR | Page 1 of a PDF up to 5 MB, 10 a day with a free account | Rows in the .txt file, a Word table in the .docx |
For a whole scanned document, every page and not only the first, the LoreAI app reads all of it and returns an editable Word file, translated if you want. Your first document is free, up to 3 pages. See how to translate a scanned PDF for that route.
Getting a cleaner result from a scan
- Scan at a normal office setting rather than the smallest file size, so small print stays sharp.
- Rotate pages right side up before you upload. Google gives the same advice for its converter[2].
- Split a long file and upload the page you need, since the free tool reads page 1.
- Remove the password from a protected PDF first. The tool can't open it.
Privacy
The PDF is sent to LoreAI's OCR provider, read once and deleted there right after. The text stays on LoreAI's server for 1 hour so you can open it after you sign up, then it is deleted.
Questions people ask
Is PDF to text free?
Yes, free with a free account. The first lines show before you sign up, and the account gives you 10 runs a day without touching your free document.
Can I convert a multi-page PDF to text?
The free tool reads page 1. To convert every page, upload the whole file in the app, where the first document is free up to 3 pages.
Does it keep the formatting?
The .txt file is plain text with tables as tab-separated rows. The Word download keeps headings, lists and tables.
Can it read a password-protected PDF?
No. Remove the password in your PDF reader, save a copy and upload that.
Sources
- Microsoft Support: Opening PDFs in Word, accessed November 2, 2026
- Google Drive Help: Convert PDF and photo files to text, accessed November 2, 2026
By Matt Mountain ·