How to Convert a PDF to Markdown (.md)
Extract a PDF's text layer into Markdown for docs, wikis, READMEs and LLM prompts. Learn what the tool preserves, when to run OCR first, and how to avoid scrambled layouts.
A text extractor, not a visual replica
PDF to Markdown reads the embedded text layer of a PDF and re-flows it into Markdown: words are grouped into lines by their on-page position, blanks are kept as paragraph breaks, and short lines are offered as headings or bullets where the pattern justifies it. It is best suited to reports, papers, specs and documentation that already have a clean text layer.
Because headings and lists are guesses, the tool says so — the .md is a text document you can edit, not a substitute for the original layout. Bold, italic, links, images, tables and code blocks are not preserved. For a closer visual match, convert to PDF to Word instead.
Pick a text-based PDF
Choose a file whose words you can already select and copy — that is the text layer doing the work. Password-protected files must be unlocked first with PDF Unlock. If you can't select any text on the page, it is a scan: there is no text layer, the pages are marked as having no text, and the tool links to PDF OCR to recognize the content first.
Single-column documents convert most reliably. Two-column layouts and rotated pages can interleave or mirror the reading order despite the tool's rotation-aware sorting. When ordering matters and the layout is complex, review the preview before trusting the file.
Use the output
Download the .md for READMEs, wikis, note apps or to feed into an AI tool, or download the .html rendering of the same extract for quick reading. A page separator (---) marks where each PDF page ended, and pages with no extractable text are skipped with a note in the UI.
Nothing is uploaded. The PDF is parsed and re-flowed entirely in your browser, within a 100 MB and 200-page cap.
Try it free — PDF to Markdown
Extract the text layer of a PDF into Markdown or HTML with best-effort headings, lists and paragraph breaks.
Open PDF to Markdown