Documents conversion
Convert PDF to TXT
Updated Jul 2026
PDF is a document format built to look the same on any screen or printer, while TXT keeps just the words with no layout, images, or fonts. To convert, open the PDF in a converter and pull out the text as a plain TXT file. Doing this on your own computer means the document never leaves your machine.
- Extension
- Type
- Documents
- Typically
- The universal document format
- Metadata
- Carries EXIF
- Extension
- .txt
- Type
- Documents
- Typically
- Plain text files
Convert PDF to TXT on your own computer. Nothing uploads.
How to convert PDF to TXT
- Open Morphjet and drag in the PDF you want to convert. Add one file or a whole folder at once.
- Choose TXT as the output format.
- Convert. The extracted text is written to a plain TXT file next to your original, and nothing leaves your machine.
PDF vs TXT: what actually changes
| TXT | ||
|---|---|---|
| File size | Larger, holds fonts, images, and layout data | Much smaller, just the characters |
| Formatting and layout | Preserved exactly, page by page | None, just raw text in reading order |
| Images | Can hold embedded images | Dropped entirely |
| Opens everywhere | Yes, but needs a PDF reader app | Yes, opens in any basic text editor |
| Editable as plain text | No, needs dedicated software to edit | Yes, fully editable anywhere |
| Metadata | Yes, title, author, and edit history | No, metadata is dropped |
When to convert, and when not to
Convert PDF to TXT when you need just the words, for example to paste text into another document, feed it into a script, search it more easily, or strip out formatting you don't need.
Keep the PDF if you need the original layout, tables, images, or formatting, since converting to TXT throws all of that away and keeps only the raw text.
Why not just use an online converter?
PDFs often carry metadata you don't see at a glance, like the document's original author, the company name tucked into its properties, and sometimes an edit history. Send that PDF to an online converter and all of that travels to their server along with the text. Converting on your own computer means the document, and everything embedded in it, stays on your machine.
Questions
Does converting PDF to TXT lose anything?
Yes, deliberately. TXT keeps only the words, in reading order. Formatting, fonts, colors, images, tables, and layout are all dropped, since plain text can't hold any of that.
Will the TXT file keep the PDF's metadata?
No. Metadata like the author, title, and creation date lives in the PDF's properties, not in its text, so none of that carries over to a TXT file.
Can I convert PDF to TXT without uploading it anywhere?
Yes. A desktop app like Morphjet extracts the text on your own computer, so the file never has to go over the internet.
Will a scanned PDF convert to TXT correctly?
Not automatically. A scanned PDF is really an image of a page with no underlying text, so there's nothing meaningful to extract unless the PDF already has a text layer.
Why convert the whole PDF instead of just copying and pasting?
For a one-page document, copying works fine. For long or multi-file PDFs, converting everything to TXT at once saves you from doing it by hand, page by page.
Morphjet converts PDF, TXT, and 1,800+ other formats, all on your machine. Launching this July.