9 Best PDF to Text Converters Offline & Online

#1. TalkHelper PDF Converter (Recommended)

TalkHelper PDF Converter is a powerful PDF to Text converter app that boasts an automated OCR whenever you add a scanned or image-based PDF file. Instead of just availing plain text, this converter tool can retain the original layout and paragraphs for readability.

You can also extract text from specific pages or page ranges on individual PDF files and also get to convert multiple PDFs into text, all at the same time. To guarantee greater accuracy for the OCR, up to 46 languages are supported.

Pros:

• Features a built-in OCR
• Fast and accurate text extraction
• Batch processing is available
• Supports partial PDF to Text conversion
• Retain the original paragraphs and overall layout
• No file size limitations

Cons:

• Password-protected PDFs are not supported

Supported Platforms: Windows

Best for: A Fast and accurate text data extraction process from native or scanned PDFs with the help of an overly powerful built-in OCR tool.

#2. Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat allows you to obtain editable and searchable text documents almost instantly without the need to retype, reformat, or rescan PDFs. The powerful built-in OCR feature is suitable for use on scanned PDF files as it ensures that fonts and formatting are matched between the source PDF and text file.

Besides partial and batch PDF to text conversion, Adobe Acrobat allows you to select specific PDF regions that you need to extract text from. Even better, password-protected PDFs can also be converted into text conveniently.

Pros:

• Features an automatic built-in OCR tool
• Allows you to extract text from specific page regions
• Very good at batch processing
• Keeps formatting and fonts intact
• Supports encrypted PDFs

Cons:

• Very Costly

Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, Mobile, Web-based

Best for: Instant PDF to text conversion with automatic OCR on multiple platforms, online and offline.

#3. SimpleOCR

SimpleOCR is a very superior PDF to Text tool that offers two conversion modes. One of them is Machine Print that allows you to convert scanned or native PDFs into text and Hand Writing mode helps you to transform handwritten PDFs into plain text that can be shared or reused in other documents.

Just as the name suggests, a built-in OCR helps to make text recognition possible especially on scanned PDFs. Better yet, you can also create PDFs from hardcopy documents and then convert them into text format instead of retyping.

Pros:

• Powerful OCR tool
• Features a document scanner
• Rich options to tinker with
• 100% free without limitations
• Output text as a Word or plain text document
• Features a built-in editor

Cons:

• Windows-only
• Struggles with a multi-column layout

Supported Platforms: Windows

Best for: Fast, accurate, and efficient OCR of scanned PDFs to output rich plain text output.

#4. Nitro Pro

Nitro Pro presents a familiar Microsoft Office-like interface for a reliable PDF to Text conversion process. This converter tool promises layout consistency by retaining the original fonts and formatting as much as possible. A special feature here is that PDFs from emails and attachments can be converted directly into text format to simplify the process for you.

Also, in just a single click, multiple PDFs can be exported into text format simultaneously for efficiency. Apart from text, PDFs can also be converted into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft Office formats.

Pros:

• Can directly convert PDF emails/attachments
• Supports batch processing
• Ensures fonts and formatting consistency
• Strikes a good balance between speed and quality
• Microsoft Office-like interface

Cons:

• A bit expensive

Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac

Best for: A high-speed PDF to Text conversion process with automated layout, fonts, and formatting fixes for the best output.

#5. UniPDF PDF to Text Converter

UniPDF PDF to Text Converter is a dedicated offline Windows program that helps you to extract text from any PDF or image file while retaining the original layout and formatting. The tool is fast without compromise on the quality and also allows for partial conversion (convert specific PDF pages or page ranges).

This offline tool can also convert PDFs into other formats like Word, HTML, among others, besides letting you turn multiple PDFs into text format all at once. Moreover, the built-in OCR feature helps you to realize even higher accuracy levels during text extraction on scanned PDFs.

Pros:

• Allows for batch processing
• Multilingual PDF to Text converter
• High-quality conversion – retains formatting
• Built-in OCR tool
• Allows you to convert specific pages or page ranges

Cons:

• A limiting free version
• Windows-only converter tool

Supported Platforms: Windows

Best for: Standalone, high-quality PDF to Text conversion with options to batch convert and obtain an original, editable text.

#6. Zamzar

Zamzar promises convenience and top-of-the-tier speeds whenever you need to convert PDF to Text online.  In just a matter of three steps, this converter will have the text file ready for further action.

Recently, Zamzar has added real-time PDF to Text conversion to improve on speeds and eliminate the need for adding your email to get notified once the process is complete. For a safe online working environment, both the PDF files and converted text are kept private to ward off third-party access.

Pros:

• Lightning-fast
• Offers online storage
• Unlimited conversions per day
• Convert PDFs from URLs
• Allows you to batch convert PDF to Text
• Reliable customer support

Cons:

• 50MB max file size on the free version

Supported Platforms: Web-based

Best for: An easy, secure, and fast PDF to Text conversion process on the web, with diligent customer support.

#7. HiPDF

Wondershare’s HiPDF is an online PDF to Text converter tool although it still offers an offline version for enthusiasts. This converter tool offers automated and accurate PDF to Text conversion processes to guarantee you great conversion speeds while still delivering workable text.

Using the Document Cloud feature, you can conveniently share and collaborate on PDF to Text tasks with high levels of data privacy. Even better, OCR is applied automatically to extract text from image-based or scanned pdf documents.

Pros:

• Available for online and offline use
• Offers OCR capabilities
• Supports batch PDF to Text conversion
• Integrates Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box cloud services
• Guarantees accuracy and privacy

Cons:

• Ad-laden free version
• Batch conversion is only available on a subscription

Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, Web-based

Best for: Online and offline PDF to Text conversion with access to batch processing, accurate OCR, data privacy, and more.

#8. Google Docs

Google Docs works hand in hand with Google Drive to help you convert PDF to Text online for free. It boasts a powerful built-in OCR feature that can extract text data from any PDF (native or scanned) or image file like JPG.

Amazingly, this PDF to Text converter retains both the text and any form of graphics in the original PDF. Google Docs first converts the PDF  file into Microsoft Word format after which you can save and download it as a text file. Also, the OCR is applied automatically depending on the source PDF file.

Pros:

• Features an automated OCR
• Supports scanned and image-based PDFs too
• Free to use on multiple platforms
• Can retain both text and images

Cons:

• No batch PDF to Text conversion

Supported Platforms: Web-based

Best for: A free, fast, and remarkably accurate PDF to Text OCR conversion process on any platform.

#9. PDF to Text App (Android)

PDF to Text App is one of the best PDF to Text converters on the Android platform. With it, you can convert PDFs from the Android smartphone/tablet internal storage, cloud services (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive), or use the camera to scan a hardcopy document.

Of course, this converter tool will deliver plain text but all the formatting will be lost. You can undertake an unlimited number of conversions and PDFs of any size can be converted hassle-free. For convenience, the conversion process happens in the cloud to deliver output fast, ready for download.

Pros:

• Supports scanned PDFs
• Features an OCR
• Allows you to scan hardcopy documents
• No limitation in file size or number of conversions
• Integrates popular cloud services

Cons:

• Loses all formatting
• Free conversions take a long time to complete

Supported Platforms: Android

Best for: Extracting text data from native and scanned PDFs on any Android device without limitations in the number of conversions or file size.