Which Markdown flavor does the output use?

Standard Markdown for headings, lists, bold text and links, plus pipe tables of the kind GitHub and most editors understand.

Why are some pages missing from the result?

Pages without any extractable text, usually scans or full-page pictures, cannot be converted. The file ends with a note naming those pages so you know where to look.

Where do the images go when I include them?

Each picture appears as an image reference at its place in the text, and the actual image data is collected at the end of the file, so the readable part is not interrupted by long data strings.

Will a two-column paper come out in the right order?

Usually yes: when both sides read as running prose, the columns are read one after the other. Where columns could also be a table or a form, the rows are kept together, and you may need to reorder a few lines.

Is the text kept on vupdf's servers?

No. The PDF is read on vupdf's own servers only to produce the Markdown and is deleted once the result has been delivered to you.

All Tools

PDF to Markdown

Convert PDF content into Markdown text.

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Your files are sent securely from your browser to our server.

Up to 50 MB per file

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Files are deleted right after processing

What PDF to Markdown does

PDF to Markdown extracts the content of a PDF as a plain-text .md file that uses Markdown's simple marks for structure: # for headings, - for list items, ** for bold and pipe-separated rows for tables. Writers, developers and anyone who keeps notes in tools such as Obsidian, a wiki or a Git repository can use it to move a manual, an article or meeting notes out of a fixed layout and into text they can edit, diff and search.

The converter reads pages the way a person does, line by line from top to bottom, rather than in the order the text happens to be stored in the file. It works out heading levels from font size and outline numbering such as 2.1.3, keeps bold words and links, joins words hyphenated at line ends, and removes running headers, footers and bare page numbers that would otherwise repeat on every page.

How to use PDF to Markdown

Open PDF to Markdown and drop in your PDF, or click to choose it (files up to 50 MB are accepted).
If the PDF asks for a password, enter it in the field shown.
Turn on Include images only if you want the pictures embedded in the Markdown; leave it off for a text-only file.
Optionally type a file name, then click the PDF to Markdown button.
Read the preview on the result screen, use Copy all to grab the text, or download the .md file.

Features and options

Clean heading structure: Headings are detected from their size and numbering, and the levels are tidied so they have no gaps: a document that jumps from chapters to sub-sections still gets a sensible #, ## outline.
Lists and tables: Bulleted and numbered lines become Markdown lists, and text arranged in columns becomes a pipe table with a header row. Tables of contents with page numbers are recognized and kept readable instead of being turned into odd tables.
Noise removed: Repeated headers and footers, bare page numbers and invisible characters such as soft hyphens are stripped, and a paragraph cut in half by a page break is joined back together when the sentence clearly continues.
Optional embedded images: With Include images on, pictures are written into the file as base64 data, placed at the end of the document and referenced where they belong. The file stays self-contained but becomes much larger, so the option is off by default.
Instant preview and copy: The result screen shows the beginning of the Markdown and offers a Copy all button, so you can paste straight into an editor without downloading anything.

When it helps

A developer moves a vendor's PDF installation guide into the project's docs folder so it can be versioned alongside the code.
A student turns lecture handouts into Markdown notes and links them together in a personal knowledge base.
An editor needs the text of a PDF article for a blog that is written in Markdown and wants to skip retyping the headings and lists.

Tips and limits

Markdown cannot express page layout, fonts or colors. If you need the document to keep its look, use PDF to Word instead.
Pages that are scans or images contain no text and are listed in a note at the end of the file. Run such files through the OCR tool first.
Complex layouts, such as magazine spreads with boxes and sidebars, may need some manual reordering, even though side-by-side columns are separated where the tool can tell them apart safely.
Leave images off when you plan to paste the text somewhere, since base64 picture data can run to thousands of characters.

Frequently asked questions

Which Markdown flavor does the output use?: Standard Markdown for headings, lists, bold text and links, plus pipe tables of the kind GitHub and most editors understand.
Why are some pages missing from the result?: Pages without any extractable text, usually scans or full-page pictures, cannot be converted. The file ends with a note naming those pages so you know where to look.
Where do the images go when I include them?: Each picture appears as an image reference at its place in the text, and the actual image data is collected at the end of the file, so the readable part is not interrupted by long data strings.
Will a two-column paper come out in the right order?: Usually yes: when both sides read as running prose, the columns are read one after the other. Where columns could also be a table or a form, the rows are kept together, and you may need to reorder a few lines.
Is the text kept on vupdf's servers?: No. The PDF is read on vupdf's own servers only to produce the Markdown and is deleted once the result has been delivered to you.