Convert PDF to Markdown online
Turn a PDF into a Markdown file — for a README, a wiki, a static site, or anywhere else Markdown is the format of choice, rather than plain unstructured text.
A PDF has no heading tags of its own the way HTML or Markdown does, so this makes an educated guess: a line drawn noticeably larger than the surrounding body text is treated as a heading, and bullet or numbered list markers are carried across as real Markdown lists. It is a heuristic, not a certainty — worth a quick read-through, especially on a document that barely varies its font size.
Your file never leaves your device. Conversion runs entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded, stored, or scanned.
or drop them here — nothing is uploaded
How to pdf to markdown
Add your PDF
Drop one PDF into the box, or click to browse.
Convert and download
Press PDF to Markdown. A .md file downloads with headings and lists inferred.
Frequently asked questions
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. Conversion runs in your browser using JavaScript, so your file stays on your device. You can confirm this by opening your browser devtools Network tab while working — there are no upload requests.
How are headings decided?
By font size, relative to whatever size is most common across the document — the closest thing to a signal a PDF carries for "this line matters more." A line drawn noticeably larger becomes a heading; one drawn only slightly larger becomes a subheading. A PDF with genuine heading tags (some do carry them internally) does not expose them in a way this tool reads — size is the only thing that survives extraction.
What if my PDF never changes font size?
Then nothing gets promoted to a heading — you get plain paragraphs, honestly, rather than a heading structure invented from nothing. This is the expected result for a document that was never visually structured with size in the first place.
Are bullet points and numbered lists preserved?
Lines that already start with a bullet character or a number followed by a period are carried through as real Markdown list syntax. Lists that use indentation or a symbol this tool doesn't recognise come through as plain text lines instead.
Does this preserve tables or multi-column layouts?
No — like PDF to Text, lines are reconstructed from character position, which does not reliably reproduce a table's structure or a multi-column page's reading order.
I just want the plain text, no Markdown formatting?
PDF to Text gives you the same extraction without the heading or list formatting.
Can this convert a password-protected PDF?
Not directly — unlock it first, using a password you know.