How to export a PDF as plain or rich text on Mac
Two text formats, for two different jobs.
Sometimes the layout is the thing you want to get rid of.
Exporting text is part of Premium, so it carries a small lock in the document actions panel and in the menu bar. The lock is a label rather than a barrier — you can open the feature and see what it does before deciding to unlock it. Reading and every page operation stay free.
Which format
| Format | Keeps | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text | The words, nothing else | Quoting, archiving, searching with other tools, feeding into something that processes text |
| Rich Text | Basic formatting — bold, italic, headings, sizes | A document a person is going to read, where you want it readable but not identical |
If you want the document to still look like the document, neither of these is the right choice — export to Word instead.
Export, step by step
-
Check there is text to export
Selecting a line is the test. A scan needs Make Searchable first, or you will export an empty file.
-
Open Export and choose the format
From the document actions panel, under Protect & Share.
-
Save it
And open the result to check the reading order — that is the part most worth looking at.
What reading order means, and why it sometimes surprises
Text is a sequence; a page is not. Export reads the page in the order the document stores its content, which for a simple document is the order a person would read it, and for a complex one is not always. Two-column layouts, side panels, footnotes, headers and footers and captions are the common surprises — a footnote can appear in the middle of the paragraph it belongs to.
If a two-column document exports as interleaved nonsense, use Extract Text over one column at a time instead. Drawing a box around a region gets you exactly that region, in order.
What text export is genuinely good for
- Quoting. Getting a passage out accurately without retyping it.
- Archiving. Plain text is the most durable format there is — it will still open in fifty years.
- Searching with other tools. Once a document is text, everything on your Mac can search it.
- Word counts and analysis. Anything that counts, compares or processes wants text, not layout.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a PDF as a text file on a Mac?
Export it as plain text from the document actions panel. For basic formatting, export as Rich Text instead.
What is the difference between plain text and Rich Text?
Plain text keeps only the words. Rich Text keeps basic formatting — bold, italic, headings and sizes.
Why is the exported text in a strange order?
Because a page is not a sequence. Two-column layouts, footnotes and side panels are the usual culprits. Extract Text over one column at a time gets you clean results.
Why is my exported file empty?
The document is a scan and contains no text. Run Make Searchable over it first.
Which format should I use to keep the layout?
Neither of these — export to Word, which keeps far more of it.