Copy Text from PDF, Arabic Included
Copy text from PDF with Arabic in the right order: no reversed words, no broken letters.
Copy text from PDF files without the usual mess. Arabic copied out of a PDF often comes out with letters swapped, words back to front, vowel marks on the wrong letter or English phrases reversed, because a PDF stores where each letter is drawn rather than the sentence you read. This tool reads each page the way you see it and puts the text back in reading order: the lam-alef pair the right way round, marks on their letters, numbers and English words where they belong, and lines the file split in two joined again. Copy one page or the whole file, or save it as a text file. Everything happens in your browser, so your file never leaves your device.
- Free, no sign-up
- Files never leave your device
- Up to 100 MB per file
Drop a PDF file here
or
Up to 100 MB per file. Your files stay on your device.
Your file stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded.
What next
- Read the pasted text through once: names and numbers are worth a second look.
- Need to change the text inside the PDF itself? Edit PDF changes it in place, Arabic included.
How to copy text from a PDF
- 1
Choose your PDF. Its pages are read one after another, straight away.
- 2
Look through the text of each page. Pages with no text, or with letters the file doesn’t name, are marked.
- 3
Press “Copy all text”, or copy a single page with the button beside it.
- 4
Or press “Save as a text file” to keep a .txt copy you can open anywhere.
When you would use it
Quoting a paragraph from an Arabic report or research paper without retyping it.
Pasting the wording of an official letter or a university notice into a message.
Getting the text of a contract to search it, translate it or keep notes on it.
Moving Arabic text from a PDF into a document you are writing.
What to expect
Scanned pages and photos of pages hold no text, so there is nothing to copy. This tool does not read text from pictures (OCR).
Files that don’t say which letter each shape is can’t be copied reliably. Such pages are marked.
The result is plain text: columns, tables, fonts and pictures are not kept.
Lines follow the page, so a paragraph comes out as the lines it has in the PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free to copy text from a PDF here?
Yes. No sign-up, no daily limit, and nothing added to your text.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file is read inside your browser, on your device. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else.
Why is Arabic text reversed when copied from PDF files?
A PDF records where each letter shape is drawn, not the words in reading order. Many readers copy in drawing order, which turns words and numbers round and swaps the two letters of lam-alef; some copy the joined letter shapes instead of ordinary letters, which search and spell-check don’t recognise. This tool works out the reading order from where each word is drawn and turns joined shapes back into ordinary letters.
Can I copy text from a scanned PDF?
No. A scan is a picture of a page with no text inside it, so there is nothing to copy. Such pages are marked “no text”. Reading text from pictures (OCR) is not something this tool does.
Some letters come out as nonsense. Why?
Some files, often made by old invoice or report systems, don’t say which letter each shape is. Nobody can copy those letters reliably, so the page is marked and you know to check it against the PDF.
Does it work for English, and for Arabic mixed with English?
Yes. English lines are copied as they are, and English words, numbers and brackets inside an Arabic line keep their proper order.
Is the layout kept?
The words are kept in order, line by line and page by page. The result is plain text, so columns, tables, fonts and pictures are not: a table comes out as lines of text.
Can I extract text from PDF into Word?
Copy the text here and paste it into Word or Google Docs: Arabic arrives as ordinary letters in the right order, ready to edit. Turning a PDF into a Word document with its layout is something this site does not do yet.