PDF to Markdown
Convert PDF content to Markdown format.
or click to browse — supports PDF files up to 100MB
How to use
- 1 Drop or click to upload your file
- 2 Adjust options if shown
- 3 Click Run Tool
- 4 Download your result instantly
- ✓ Files up to 1GB
- ✓ Unlimited jobs/hour
- ✓ Batch processing
- ✓ Priority support
Files are processed securely and permanently deleted within 1 hour. We never store, read, or share your documents.
Why this works
Convert a PDF\u2019s text content into Markdown (.md) format \u2014 preserving headings, lists, links, and basic formatting in a structured plain-text format ideal for documentation systems, static-site generators, and AI-friendly content pipelines.
Markdown is the lingua franca of modern documentation: GitHub READMEs, technical docs, static-site generators, blog platforms, AI chat interfaces all speak Markdown. Converting a PDF to Markdown gives you content you can paste straight into any of those systems without manual formatting.
Unlike PDF to TXT (which strips all formatting) or PDF to Word (which preserves visual layout), PDF to Markdown sits in between \u2014 it preserves the structural information (this is a heading, this is a bullet list, this is a code block) while discarding visual styling (specific fonts, colours, exact positioning). The result is portable, readable, and processable by any modern documentation tool.
What converts well. Headings: H1 through H6 levels detected from font size and weight in the source. Lists: bullet and numbered lists preserved as Markdown lists. Bold and italic: detected from text weight and styling in the source. Links: hyperlinks become `[text](url)` Markdown links. Code blocks: monospace-font sections render as fenced code blocks. Tables: simple tables convert to Markdown table syntax (heavy/merged-cell tables flatten).
What doesn\u2019t carry over. Specific fonts, colours, sizes (Markdown doesn\u2019t encode those). Complex layout (multi-column flows flatten to single-column). Embedded images (referenced as Markdown image syntax but not extracted; use Extract Images to pull the image files separately). Footnotes (rendered inline rather than as a separate footnote section in some flavours of Markdown).
The converter handles two source types. Born-digital PDFs convert cleanly because structure is encoded into the source. Scanned PDFs run through OCR first; structure detection from OCR\u2019d text is less reliable, so expect lower fidelity on scanned sources \u2014 you may need to add headings and lists manually after conversion.
Use cases this is uniquely good for. AI workflows: pasting documentation into ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot \u2014 Markdown is the format these tools work with most cleanly. Static-site migrations: porting a body of PDF documentation into Jekyll, Hugo, MkDocs, or Docusaurus. Documentation systems: feeding source PDFs into a docs CMS that ingests Markdown. README generation: turning a long-form PDF spec into a README for a code repo.
How it works
-
1Upload your PDFDrop the PDF you want as Markdown into the upload box.
-
2Run the conversionPress Convert. Born-digital PDFs finish in 3\u20135 seconds; scanned PDFs take longer due to OCR.
-
3Download the .md fileOpen in any Markdown editor (VS Code, Obsidian, MarkText), or paste directly into a docs system or AI chat.
-
4Touch up structure if neededFor scanned sources, expect to review and add headings/lists manually \u2014 OCR-based structure detection is less reliable than born-digital.
Real-world uses
Technical writers
Port legacy PDF documentation into a Markdown-based docs system (MkDocs, Docusaurus).
Developers
Turn a long-form PDF spec into a GitHub README or wiki page.
AI users
Paste PDF content into ChatGPT or Claude as Markdown \u2014 cleaner formatting than raw text.
Knowledge-base teams
Migrate a body of PDF SOPs into a Notion or Obsidian vault.
Common questions
Will headings, lists, and links be preserved?
Yes for born-digital PDFs. Heading levels (H1-H6) are detected from font size and weight; bullet and numbered lists preserve their structure; hyperlinks become `[text](url)`. For scanned sources, structure detection from OCR text is less reliable \u2014 expect a touch-up pass.
Will images carry over?
Images are referenced as Markdown image syntax (``) but the image files themselves aren\u2019t extracted by this tool. Use Extract Images to pull the embedded image files separately, then update the Markdown image paths to point at them.
What flavour of Markdown does it produce?
Standard CommonMark with GitHub-Flavoured Markdown extensions (tables, fenced code blocks, task lists). Compatible with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, MkDocs, Hugo, Jekyll, Docusaurus, Obsidian, and any modern Markdown tool.
Will tables convert correctly?
Simple grid tables convert cleanly to Markdown table syntax. Tables with merged cells, nested layouts, or complex structures flatten to plain text \u2014 Markdown table syntax is limited.
PDF to TXT or PDF to Markdown \u2014 which should I pick?
PDF to TXT for raw words with no structure. PDF to Markdown for structure-aware extraction \u2014 headings, lists, links, code blocks preserved. For AI workflows and documentation systems, Markdown is almost always the right pick.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Yes \u2014 OCR runs automatically and the recognised text becomes Markdown. Structure detection (heading levels, lists) is less reliable on OCR\u2019d sources because the OCR output doesn\u2019t carry the font-size metadata the structure detector uses. Expect to manually add headings and lists after conversion.