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How to convert a PDF to text on a Mac

By DeckleUpdated

To convert a PDF to text on a Mac, open PDF to text in your browser, drop the PDF onto the page, keep All pages or choose the pages you need, pick how pages are separated and choose Extract text. Deckle saves a plain .txt file that opens in TextEdit or any editor. The PDF is not changed. For a few lines, copying text in Preview is quicker; both methods are below.

PDF to text
Illustrated document pages containing a chart, photograph and text.
Illustration · a document can contain more than its visible pages.

How to convert a PDF to text on a Mac with Deckle

  1. Open PDF to text in Safari, Chrome or Firefox.
  2. Drag the PDF from the Finder onto the page, or choose Select a file. The page preview opens straight away.
  3. Under Pages and order, keep All pages, or choose Choose pages and type page numbers such as 3, 1-2. The text follows the order you type.
  4. Under Between pages, choose Mark where each page ended to add a page-break character, or One continuous document to separate pages with a blank line.
  5. Choose Extract text.
  6. Download the .txt file, named after the PDF, and open it in TextEdit.

After the export, Deckle compares the saved text with the selectable text in the PDF and reports the share of characters kept on the result screen.

Which separator to choose

Choose When
Mark where each page ended You need to know which page a passage came from, or you will process the file with other tools
One continuous document You will paste the text into a document or email

The page-break character is the standard plain-text marker for a new page. TextEdit may show it as a small symbol or nothing at all; it does no harm either way. See how to extract PDF text with page breaks.

What you get, and what you don't

A text file holds characters only. Fonts, images, tables, links and colours are gone, and lines are rebuilt from where the text sits on the page. Multi-column pages and tables can come out in a different reading order from the one you see, so check figures and names against the PDF.

Only text that is already selectable in the PDF is extracted. A scanned page is a picture, so it produces an empty page in the text file. To test a PDF, open it in Preview and try to select a word with the text tool: if you can, Deckle can extract it.

A password-protected PDF needs an unlocked copy first; use Unlock PDF with the password you were given.

Copy text with Preview

For a paragraph or two, Preview is enough. Apple describes it in Select and copy text in a PDF in Preview on Mac:

  1. Open the PDF in Preview.
  2. Choose Tools > Text Selection.
  3. Drag across the text you want. To copy one column of a multi-column page, hold Option as you select.
  4. Choose Edit > Copy, then paste it where you need it.

The Rectangular Selection tool copies an image of the area, not text, so use Text Selection when you want words.

Text in photos and scans

macOS Live Text can recognise text in images. Apple's page Interact with text in a photo using Live Text in Preview on Mac explains how: open the image in Preview, select the text, then Control-click and choose Copy Text. Apple notes that Live Text isn't available in all regions or languages. It works on a few lines at a time, not a whole document.

Tips

  • Extract only the pages you need. Typing 5-9 in Choose pages keeps the file short.
  • Reorder while you extract. Typing 3, 1-2 puts page 3's text first. A repeated number repeats that page's text.
  • Check tables by hand. Rows can lose their columns in plain text. Compare totals with the PDF.
  • Use the text, not a screenshot. A screenshot of a page is an image; PDF to JPG is the tool when you want pictures. See how to convert a PDF to JPG on a Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my text file empty?

The PDF has no selectable text, which is normal for scans and photographed pages.

Does it work with other languages?

Yes. The file is UTF-8, so accented and non-Latin characters stored as text in the PDF are kept.

Will the text keep the PDF's layout?

No. A text file has no layout. Paragraphs and lines are rebuilt from text positions.

Is the PDF uploaded?

No. The PDF is read and the text file is written in your browser.

Related tools

Sources