PDF to HTML Converter
Extract a PDF's real text into a clean, readable HTML page, split by page. Runs entirely in your browser.
Click to upload or drag and drop
Select a PDF file
How it works
This tool reads the PDF's real text layer (not OCR) and wraps each page's text in simple paragraph tags, with a heading marking where each page began. Original layout, fonts, images, and complex formatting (tables, columns) aren't preserved — this is a reading-order text conversion, not a visual copy of the page.
What the HTML file contains
You get one standalone .html file with a small built-in stylesheet and no external scripts or images. Each PDF page becomes a section headed "Page 1", "Page 2" and so on, and every line of text on that page becomes its own paragraph. Characters such as <, > and & are escaped, so text from the PDF can never run as code when the file is opened.
Good uses, and known limits
It works well for getting a report, article or letter into a form you can paste into a CMS, search, or read on a phone without zooming. Because the PDF stores text as positioned lines rather than paragraphs, a paragraph that wraps over four lines comes out as four short paragraphs, and a word hyphenated across a line break stays split. Multi-column layouts can interleave, and tables come out as plain lines of text. For editable formatting, PDF to Word is usually the better fit; for plain text only, use PDF to Text.
What the file looks like inside
Each page becomes a section with a Page heading, then one p tag per line of text, in the order the PDF stores the text. Blank lines are dropped, and a page with no text keeps its heading with nothing under it. The page title is the file name without .pdf, and the output is saved as your file name followed by -converted.html.
Limits and what to expect
- A PDF can be up to 100 MB. A password-protected or damaged file shows "Couldn't read this PDF".
- Text is gathered line by line from the positions in the PDF: a text item whose vertical position differs from the previous one by more than 2 points starts a new line. Text sitting at the same height is joined with no separator, so words in side-by-side columns can run together.
- Links, images, bold and italic are not carried across. Only text is exported.
- If the whole PDF has about 20 characters of text or fewer, the file is still created, but a note suggests the OCR tool, because the pages are probably scans.
Frequently asked questions
Does this preserve the PDF's visual layout?
No — it converts the real text content into simple paragraphs, split by page. Original fonts, images, columns, and precise layout aren't preserved.
Does this use OCR for scanned PDFs?
No — like the PDF to Text tool, this reads the existing text layer only, and will tell you if little or no text was found.
Why won't my PDF open?
Password-protected PDFs can't be read until the password is removed — run the file through Unlock PDF first (you'll need the password). A damaged file will also fail with an error rather than producing partial output.
What title does the HTML file get?
The PDF's file name with the .pdf ending removed, escaped so that characters like angle brackets and ampersands are safe. A file called annual-report.pdf gives a title of annual-report and is saved as annual-report-converted.html.
Are hyperlinks and images kept?
No. Only the text is exported, as plain paragraphs. Links appear as their visible text, and images are left out.
Why is a whole paragraph split into several short ones?
PDFs store text as positioned lines, not paragraphs, so every line becomes its own p tag. A paragraph that wraps over five lines comes out as five paragraphs.