PDF to Markdown
Extract a PDF's text into clean Markdown, one section per page. Processed on the server; your file is not stored.
Processed on our server and deleted immediately — your file is never stored.
Best for text-based PDFs. Scanned PDFs? Run OCR PDF first.
About PDF to Markdown
PDF to Markdown converts a document into clean Markdown, turning headings into hash marks, lists into bullets and emphasis into asterisks. The result drops straight into a static site, a wiki, a README or a notes app. Free, and your file is deleted after processing.
Markdown has quietly become the standard format for technical writing, and PDFs are where a lot of useful content is stuck. Documentation teams migrating an old manual into a docs site, developers pulling a specification into a repository, and anyone moving reference material into Obsidian or Notion all hit the same wall: the content exists, but only as a fixed page layout.
Plain text extraction is not good enough for this job, because it throws away exactly the structure that makes a document navigable. A heading becomes an ordinary line, a numbered procedure becomes a run-on paragraph, and you spend an afternoon re-marking it by hand. Converting to Markdown keeps the document's shape, so your headings still generate a table of contents and your steps still render as a list wherever you publish them.
How to convert PDF to Markdown
- Upload the PDF you want to convert.
- Wait while the document structure is analysed and mapped to Markdown syntax.
- Review the Markdown that comes back.
- Copy it or download the .md file.
- Paste it into your docs site, wiki or notes app and check how it renders.
Tips & common problems
Heading detection follows visual size
Headings are inferred from font size and weight, so a document with inconsistent styling produces inconsistent heading levels. Skim the hash marks before publishing.
Images are not embedded
Markdown references images rather than containing them. Pull the pictures out separately with Extract Images from PDF and place them alongside your file.
Tables need the most attention
Simple grids convert to Markdown table syntax reasonably well; merged cells and nested tables do not, since Markdown itself cannot express them.
Scans convert to nothing
There must be a real text layer to work from. Run scanned documents through OCR PDF first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn a PDF into Markdown?
Upload it here and download clean Markdown text. No signup and no watermark.
Is my file stored?
No. It is removed from the server immediately after the Markdown is generated.
Will my headings and lists be preserved?
Yes, that is the main advantage over plain text extraction. Headings become hash marks, bullets and numbered steps become Markdown lists, and emphasis is retained where it can be detected.
What happens to images?
Markdown links to images rather than storing them, so pictures are not included in the file. Extract them separately and reference them from your Markdown.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Not without OCR first. A scan has no text layer to interpret, so run it through OCR PDF and convert the searchable result.
Which Markdown flavour does it produce?
Standard CommonMark syntax, which renders correctly on GitHub, in static site generators such as Hugo and Docusaurus, and in note apps like Obsidian.