MDUtil

PDF to Markdown Converter

Open a PDF and get Markdown with its headings, lists, tables and links rebuilt from the text. The file is converted in your browser and never uploaded.

PDF file

Drop a file here or choose one

A PDF up to 100 MB

Choose a file
Open a PDF to see its Markdown here.
0 characters0 lines

What it handles

Headings from type sizes
Larger and bold lines become # headings, ranked by size across the document.
Lists and tables
Bullets, numbers and drawn list markers become Markdown lists, and text set in columns becomes a table.
Links and footnotes
Clickable links keep their addresses, and superscript note numbers become Markdown footnotes.
Clean page flow
Running headers, footers and page numbers are dropped, and paragraphs that cross a page break are joined.
Chinese and Japanese
CJK text is read with the right character maps, and wrapped lines are joined without stray spaces.
Code blocks
Text in monospaced fonts becomes fenced code blocks, even when a block continues on the next page.

Convert PDF to Markdown from the command line

MarkItDown

Microsoft's MarkItDown reads the text of a PDF quickly, with little of its structure.

pip install 'markitdown[pdf]'
markitdown report.pdf -o report.md

Marker

Marker uses machine-learning models to read scans, formulas and complex tables, and runs best on a computer with a graphics card.

pip install marker-pdf
marker_single report.pdf --output_dir out

Pandoc writes PDF files but cannot read them.

Questions and answers

How do I convert a PDF to Markdown?

Open the PDF above and copy or download the Markdown on the right. The PDF is read in your browser, page by page.

Does it work with scanned PDFs?

No. A scanned page is a picture of text, so there is nothing to read; the converter tells you when a PDF looks like a scan. Run it through OCR first, then convert the result.

Why is a table or a column wrong?

A PDF stores where each piece of text sits, not which table or column it belongs to, so both are worked out from the layout. Simple tables convert well; tables with merged cells and pages in several columns may need fixing by hand.

Are formulas turned into LaTeX?

No. Formulas come out as the characters they are printed with. For papers full of math, Marker rebuilds LaTeX with a machine-learning model.

Is there a size limit?

Files up to 100 MB. Long documents take longer, because every page is read in your browser.

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. The conversion runs in your browser, so the file never leaves your device.