3 Ways to Get Text from PDF on iPhone

Apple’s Live Text feature recognizes text, handwritten notes and numbers in photos or through the Camera app and lets you paste that information onto any other app. But what to do when you're working with a PDF and want to extract text from it?

In this article, we will explain all the ways to extract text from PDF files on iPhone.

How to get text from PDF file on iPhone [3 methods]
Method 1: Drag text on PDF
The easiest way to extract text from PDF is to copy it, just Like on any other app with text.

1. Open the PDF file you want to extract text from, then long press anywhere on the PDF and start dragging the part of the text you want to copy.

2. Once all the text is selected, you should see a bunch of options at the top. You can copy selected text by clicking "Copy" above the selection.

The text will now be copied to the clipboard and you can paste them on Notes, Messages, or any other application used to save copied text.

3. After selecting the text you want to copy, long press the selected area and drag it. Don't release your finger from dragging the text.

4. Now, use your other hand/finger to go to the home screen or recent apps to open the app you want to paste to.

5. Within the app, select a location to paste the copied text, then lift your finger and drop the dragged item.

This will make your job easier if you often work with large amounts of PDF or text files.

Method 2: Drag and copy to a new .TXT file
Not only does Apple allow you to drag and drop content between different apps, you can also move certain elements within the same app. One way to do this is to use the drag-and-drop feature to drag text directly from a PDF file open in the Files app, and drag and drop the selected text to another location within the Files app. When you use this method, iOS does not copy the text to the clipboard, but instead creates a new file within Files.

1. Open the PDF file you want to extract text from, then long press anywhere on the PDF and start dragging the part of the text you want to copy.

2. After selecting all the text, long press the selected text and start dragging it. Don't release your finger from dragging the text.

3. Now use your other hand/finger to click on “Done” in the upper left corner.

After you do this, the PDF will close and you will see the folder where the PDF file is located in the Files app.

4. Now, go to the location where you want to create the text file.

5. When you reach the location where you want the dragged text to appear, lift your finger and drop the dragged item.

6. You will now see a new text file appear in the folder. The file will contain all the content you copied from the PDF file and will be saved in ".TXT" format.

Method 3: Extract text using custom shortcuts
If you wish to copy an entire text section from a PDF file, you may find it cumbersome to open the file and then drag all the text in it, especially if the document It's several pages long. In these cases, you can use the Shortcuts app on iOS to save all the text in a PDF document with just a few taps. We do this using the Get Text from PDF action in the Shortcuts app. Follow the steps below to set up a shortcut on your iPhone and use it with the PDF file you want to extract text from.

Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. When the app opens, tap the icon in the upper right corner. This should create a new shortcut. On this screen, select Add Action at the top. A pop-up window should appear with a number of available options. At the top of this pop-up window, click on the search field and enter "PDF". In the search results, click Get text from PDF under "Documents." You will return to the shortcut creation screen. Here, enter the name of the top shortcut. Your shortcut is now ready. You can start using it by clicking on the document in the Get text from PDF action box. A dialog box will now appear to prompt you. In this dialog box, select Select. On the next screen, find and select the PDF document you want to extract text from. After opening the selected PDF file in the shortcut, click the Play icon in the lower right corner. You should now be able to see the preview text of the selected PDF document. You can enlarge this preview by clicking the expand icon (two arrows facing opposite sides) in the lower right corner of the preview. The next screen will display all the text extracted from the PDF file. You can copy this text by clicking the share icon in the upper right corner. When the share sheet appears, select Copy to copy the text to the clipboard. You can also save the copied text as a text document on your device by clicking "Save to File" or share it between other apps on your iPhone. You don't need to repeat all these steps to extract text from another PDF, just click on the file name within "Get Text from PDF" and select a new file to extract text from.

That’s all you need to know to extract text from PDF on iPhone.

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