PDF to Markdown converter
Drop in a PDF and get a Markdown back. A PDF looks the same to everyone who opens it, on any device, with the fonts, images and layout locked in place. Worth knowing: a Markdown will not open in a browser tab, so it is a file for software rather than for the web. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert Markdown to PDF
How to convert PDF to Markdown
- 1 Drop your PDF .pdf file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Check the options. Nothing is thrown away on the way to Markdown, so there is no quality dial to set.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the Markdown, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert PDF to Markdown
- Readable and editable as plain text with no special software.
- Diffs cleanly in version control, unlike binary document formats.
- Static site and blog content compiled to HTML at build time.
- PDF: editing an existing PDF is awkward because it stores drawing commands, not structure.
PDF compared with Markdown
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | Markdown | |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .md | |
| Compression | Lossy or lossless | Uncompressed |
| Multiple pages | Yes | No |
| Colour depth | RGB, CMYK, greyscale and spot colour with ICC profiles | UTF-8 plain text, parsed to an HTML document tree |
| Typical file size | Depends on mode | Largest |
| Browser support | Every browser | No browser support |
| Introduced | 1993 | 2004 |
| Developed by | Adobe, now ISO 32000 | John Gruber and Aaron Swartz |
Quality and what changes
Markdown stores the same content under a different set of rules, so what matters here is compatibility rather than picture quality. Convert once from the best source you have rather than through a chain of intermediate files.
- A multi-page PDF produces one Markdown per page.
- Browsers will not display a Markdown, so it downloads rather than opening in a tab.
- One Markdown limitation to keep in mind: no control over layout, page breaks or typography.
Questions about PDF to Markdown
Can I open a Markdown in a browser?
No. No mainstream browser renders Markdown natively, so it will download rather than display. That is fine when the file is heading into desktop software or an archive, and a problem if it is going on a web page.
What happens to a multi-page PDF?
Markdown holds one page, so each page becomes a separate file and you get the set as a ZIP. Nothing is discarded, it just cannot stay in a single document.
Is my PDF file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your PDF is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a Markdown. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several PDF files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate Markdown downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.