PDF to Markdown
Extract the text of a PDF and save it as Markdown (.md) - handy for turning reports and documentation into editable notes. Scanned pages need OCR instead.
Drop your PDF file here
or click to browse files
Extract the text of a PDF and save it as Markdown, with headings, paragraphs and lists reconstructed where the layout makes them recognisable. Handy for turning a report, a manual or a set of notes into something you can edit and version.
PDF is a printing format, so the structure has to be inferred from how the text is positioned - the result is a strong first draft that may need tidying for complex pages. Scanned documents contain no text layer at all and need OCR before this step.
How to convert PDF to Markdown
Add your PDF
Extract and convert
Copy the Markdown or download the .md file
FAQ
Why is my scanned PDF empty?
A scan is a picture of text with no text layer, so there are no characters to extract. Run OCR on the file first, then convert the result.
Is the structure preserved?
Headings, paragraphs and simple lists are reconstructed. Multi-column layouts, tables and text boxes come out as a reading-order approximation - treat the output as a draft.
Can I convert only some pages?
Yes, extract a page range in the PDF tooling first, or convert the whole document and delete the sections you do not need.
Are images carried over?
No, only text. Use the PDF to image tool or the image extraction tool if you need the graphics as files.
Does it handle non-Latin text?
Yes, as long as the PDF embeds the fonts needed to display the characters - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic and Arabic documents generally extract correctly.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No, extraction runs in your browser.
At a glance
| Input | |
|---|---|
| Multiple files | No |
| Where it runs | In your browser - files are never uploaded |
| Works offline | Yes — once the page has loaded |
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no watermark |
What survives a conversion
Structure usually survives, formatting often does not. Headings, paragraphs, lists, links, bold and italics convert cleanly between Markdown, HTML, Word and PDF. What tends to break is anything relying on styling rather than structure: CSS classes and custom colours disappear, complex nested tables collapse into unreadable ones, embedded HTML may be stripped for safety, and images either stay as links or get downloaded depending on the tool. Footnotes and math usually need explicit support. If the result matters, convert a sample first - a document with a table, a code block, a link and an image will reveal almost every problem you are going to hit.
Using the result in the real world
Where the converted file goes next decides which format you should produce. Pasting into a CMS or a help centre usually means HTML, because those systems store and re-render markup. Sending a contract, an invoice or anything someone will sign means PDF, because the layout is fixed and the file cannot be edited by accident. Editing later means Word, since that is what people will actually open it in. Feeding a script or a static site generator means keeping it as Markdown. Converting to the wrong target is the most common reason a document "looks wrong" afterwards - the content is intact, but the destination was never going to preserve that particular formatting.