ToolsBench

PDF to Markdown

Structured extraction — headings, lists & tables, not just words.

Processed on our server · deleted immediately
Sent over an encrypted connection, converted, and deleted immediately — never stored.

About PDF to Markdown

Plain text extraction gives you the words; structured extraction gives you the document. This tool analyzes each page's layout — font sizes, positions, reading order — and reconstructs real structure: heading levels become #/## in Markdown, bullet and numbered lists become list items, and tables become tables. It's built for feeding documents into AI tools, wikis and static-site generators, where structure is the whole point.

How to use PDF to Markdown

1
Add a PDF
Born-digital documents work best — reports, papers, documentation.
2
Pick a format
Markdown for notes/AI/wikis, HTML for the web, JSON for pipelines, plain text for everything else.
3
Convert
The file is converted on our server and deleted immediately; preview and download the result.

Frequently asked questions

Why does this tool use a server when the others don't?
The structure-detection engine can't run inside a browser. Every other tool on this site stays fully client-side; this one is the labeled exception.
What happens to my file?
It's sent over an encrypted connection, converted inside an isolated temporary folder, and that folder is deleted the instant the result is returned — success or failure. The server keeps no copies and logs no file names or content, only timings and sizes.
What do I get when the PDF has images?
A ZIP containing the Markdown (or HTML) file plus an images/ folder, with the document linking to the images by relative path — the portable layout Pandoc, Obsidian and static-site generators expect. The on-page preview shows the images inline; the download keeps them as clean separate files. Text-only PDFs just download a single file.
How is this different from PDF to Text?
PDF to Text runs in your browser and returns the raw words. This tool reconstructs the document's structure — headings, lists, tables, reading order — which flat extraction can't do. If you just need the words, use PDF to Text and your file never leaves your device.
Does it handle very complex or scanned tables?
It works best on born-digital PDFs. Densely nested tables with merged/grouped headers, and scanned (image-only) pages, are harder — extraction may be imperfect there.