Batch Convert PDF to TXT: How to Extract Text from Multiple PDFs at Once

When you have dozens of PDF files and need to extract text from all of them, processing them one at a time is tedious and time-consuming. Batch conversion allows you to extract text from multiple PDF files simultaneously, dramatically improving your productivity and ensuring consistent extraction settings across all your documents.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll show you how to batch convert PDF files to TXT, explain the benefits of bulk text extraction, and share best practices for handling large numbers of PDF files efficiently.

Why Batch Convert PDF to TXT?

Extracting text from PDFs individually makes sense when you have one or two documents. But many real-world scenarios involve multiple files that need the same treatment:

Common Batch Conversion Scenarios

Academic Research

• Extracting text from multiple research papers for analysis
• Converting journal articles to text for literature reviews
• Building text corpora from PDF collections
• Processing dissertation chapters for text mining

Legal and Compliance

• Extracting text from contract archives for search and analysis
• Converting legal documents for e-discovery
• Processing compliance documents for keyword searches
• Creating searchable text databases from PDF archives

Business Operations

• Extracting invoice data from multiple PDF statements
• Converting financial reports to text for analysis
• Processing customer feedback forms submitted as PDFs
• Creating text backups of important PDF documents

Data Analysis

• Extracting text from scanned survey responses
• Converting PDF reports to text for natural language processing
• Building datasets from PDF-based documentation
• Processing government documents for data mining

Content Migration

• Extracting text when moving from PDF to CMS
• Converting PDF archives to searchable text databases
• Migrating legacy PDF content to modern formats
• Creating plain text backups of PDF libraries

The Cost of Manual Conversion

Without batch processing, converting 20 PDF files means:

• Opening and converting each file individually
• Repeating the same extraction settings 20 times
• Spending 30-40 minutes on a repetitive task
• Risk of inconsistent extraction methods between documents
• Potential for missing files or making errors

With batch conversion, the same task takes under 2 minutes with guaranteed consistent extraction settings.

How to Batch Convert PDF to TXT Online

Our free online converter supports batch processing of up to 5 files simultaneously. Here's how to use it effectively:

Step 1: Prepare Your Files

Before uploading, organize your PDF files:

1. Check file formats: Ensure all files have .pdf extension
2. Verify file sizes: Each file should be under 10MB
3. Check PDF types: Identify which PDFs are scanned (will need OCR) vs. digital (direct text extraction)
4. Consider naming: Use descriptive filenames to help identify extracted text files

Quick tip: If you're unsure whether a PDF is scanned, try to select text in it. If you can't select text, it's likely a scanned PDF that will require OCR.

Step 2: Upload Multiple Files

You have two options for uploading multiple PDF files:

Drag and Drop Method

1. Select multiple PDF files in your file explorer (Ctrl+Click or Cmd+Click)
2. Drag them all together onto the upload area
3. All files will be added to the conversion queue
4. You'll see a list of all uploaded files

Browse Method

1. Click the upload area to open the file browser
2. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) while clicking to select multiple PDFs
3. Click "Open" to add all selected files
4. Verify all files appear in the upload list

Step 3: Choose Extraction Mode

One of the most important decisions in batch conversion is selecting the right extraction mode:

Text Mode (Faster)

• For digital PDFs with selectable text
• Direct text extraction without image processing
• Completes in seconds
• Best for: Reports, documents, e-books, generated PDFs

OCR Mode (For Scanned PDFs)

• For scanned documents or image-based PDFs
• Uses optical character recognition to read text
• Takes longer but handles images
• Best for: Scanned contracts, old documents, photos of documents

Mixed Mode Strategy: If you have both types of PDFs, process them in separate batches:

• Batch 1: Digital PDFs using Text Mode (fast)
• Batch 2: Scanned PDFs using OCR Mode (slower but necessary)

Step 4: Select OCR Language (If Using OCR)

For scanned PDFs, choose the correct language for best results:

Supported languages include:

• English (default)
• Chinese (Simplified and Traditional)
• Japanese
• Korean
• Spanish, French, German, Italian
• Arabic, Hebrew (right-to-left languages)
• Russian
• And 20+ more languages

Pro tip: If your PDFs contain multiple languages, choose the primary language. For multilingual documents, you may need to process them separately with different language settings.

Step 5: Convert All Files

Click the "Extract Text" button to process all files simultaneously. The converter will:

1. Analyze each PDF to determine content type
2. Apply your chosen extraction mode to every file
3. Process files in parallel for maximum speed
4. Generate individual TXT files for each PDF
5. Prepare all files for download

Processing time:

• Text Mode: 1-3 seconds per file
• OCR Mode: 10-30 seconds per page (depends on page count and image quality)

Step 6: Download Your Text Files

After conversion completes, you have two download options:

Individual Downloads: Click the download button next to each file to save them separately

Batch Download: Click "Download All" to receive all TXT files in a single ZIP archive

The TXT filenames will match your PDF filenames, making it easy to match extracted text with source documents.

Best Practices for Batch Conversion

Organizing Files Before Conversion

Create a Dedicated Folder Keep all PDFs you want to convert in one location. This makes selection easier and helps you track what's been processed.

Documents/
└── PDFs_to_Convert/
    ├── contract_2025_01.pdf
    ├── contract_2025_02.pdf
    ├── report_Q1.pdf
    ├── report_Q2.pdf
    └── invoice_march.pdf

Use Consistent Naming Since your TXT filenames will match your PDF filenames, use a clear naming convention:

• contract_2025_01.pdf → contract_2025_01.txt
• research_paper_smith.pdf → research_paper_smith.txt
• invoice_2025_march.pdf → invoice_2025_march.txt

Group by PDF Type Separate digital PDFs from scanned PDFs for efficient processing:

• Batch 1: All digital PDFs (Text Mode, fast)
• Batch 2: All scanned English documents (OCR Mode, English)
• Batch 3: All scanned Chinese documents (OCR Mode, Chinese)

Choosing the Right Extraction Settings

For Digital PDF Documents

Mode: Text Mode
Why: Direct text extraction is faster and more accurate
Examples: Reports, e-books, digital invoices

For Scanned Documents in English

Mode: OCR Mode
Language: English
Why: Recognizes text from images
Examples: Scanned contracts, old paper documents

For Multilingual Academic Papers

Mode: OCR Mode (if scanned) or Text Mode (if digital)
Language: Primary language of document
Why: Best accuracy when language is specified
Examples: Research papers, international documents

For Old or Low-Quality Scans

Mode: OCR Mode
Language: Correct language
Tips:
- Pre-process images to improve quality if possible
- Expect lower accuracy with poor scans
- May need manual review of results

Handling Large Batches

When you have more than 5 files to convert:

Method 1: Sequential Batching

1. Convert the first 5 files
2. Download the ZIP archive
3. Clear the converter (or refresh the page)
4. Upload the next 5 files
5. Repeat until complete

Method 2: Priority-Based Processing

1. Identify which PDFs are most urgent
2. Convert high-priority files first
3. Process remaining files in subsequent batches
4. This ensures critical documents are ready quickly

Method 3: Type-Based Batching

1. Group all digital PDFs together (use Text Mode)
2. Convert them quickly in batches of 5
3. Then process scanned PDFs (use OCR Mode)
4. This optimizes processing time

Method 4: Language-Based Batching (for OCR)

1. Group PDFs by language
2. Process all English documents together
3. Process all Chinese documents together
4. Ensures optimal OCR accuracy per language

Troubleshooting Batch Conversion

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue: Some PDFs fail to upload

• Check file size: Each PDF must be under 10MB
• Verify file format: Only .pdf files are supported
• Test file integrity: Try opening the PDF in a reader to verify it's not corrupted
• Check file permissions: Ensure the PDF isn't password-protected or restricted

Issue: Extracted text is gibberish or garbled

• Wrong extraction mode: Scanned PDFs need OCR Mode, not Text Mode
• Wrong language selected: Change OCR language to match document language
• Font encoding issues: Some PDFs use custom fonts that don't extract well
• Solution: Try OCR Mode even for digital PDFs if text extraction fails

Issue: OCR results are inaccurate

• Image quality: Low-resolution scans produce poor OCR results
• Wrong language: Verify you selected the correct OCR language
• Complex layouts: Tables and multi-column layouts may extract poorly
• Handwritten text: OCR works best on printed text, not handwriting

Issue: Conversion is very slow

• Using OCR on large files: OCR processing is intensive, be patient
• Too many files at once: Process fewer files per batch
• Browser performance: Close other tabs, clear cache, or try a different browser
• Large file sizes: Consider reducing PDF file size before conversion

Issue: Missing text in output

• Image-based PDF: Use OCR Mode instead of Text Mode
• Hidden layers: Some PDFs have hidden text layers that don't extract
• Protected content: Some PDFs restrict text extraction
• Embedded images: Text within images requires OCR Mode

Optimizing Conversion Speed

Browser Performance

• Use modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari)
• Close unnecessary tabs to free memory
• Clear browser cache regularly
• Disable browser extensions that might interfere

File Preparation

• Compress large PDFs before uploading
• Remove unnecessary pages from PDFs
• Use Text Mode whenever possible (much faster than OCR)
• Process during off-peak hours for best performance

Batch Size Optimization

• For Text Mode: 5 files processes very quickly
• For OCR Mode: Consider 2-3 files if they have many pages
• Mix modes: Don't process Text and OCR files in the same batch

Batch Conversion Use Cases

Use Case 1: Research Literature Review

Scenario: A PhD student needs to extract text from 30 research papers to analyze recurring themes.

Approach:

1. Organize all PDF papers in one folder
2. Identify which PDFs are scanned (older papers) vs. digital (recent papers)
3. Batch 1: Convert 5 digital PDFs using Text Mode
4. Batch 2: Convert 5 scanned PDFs using OCR Mode (English)
5. Repeat for remaining papers
6. Download ZIP archives for each batch
7. Combine all TXT files into a research corpus

Result: 30 papers converted to searchable text in under 15 minutes. Text ready for analysis with NLP tools or manual review.

Use Case 2: Legal Document Discovery

Scenario: A law firm needs to search through 50 contract PDFs for specific clauses.

Approach:

1. Collect all contract PDFs
2. Most are scanned documents from archives
3. Process in batches of 5 using OCR Mode (English)
4. Download TXT files as ZIP archives
5. Use text search tools to find relevant clauses
6. Cross-reference TXT files with original PDFs

Result: Searchable text database created from previously unsearchable scanned contracts. Keyword searches that would take days now take seconds.

Use Case 3: Financial Data Extraction

Scenario: An accountant needs to extract data from 20 PDF invoices for accounting software import.

Approach:

1. Gather all invoice PDFs
2. These are digital PDFs from suppliers
3. Upload in batches of 5
4. Use Text Mode for fast extraction
5. Download TXT files
6. Parse extracted text for invoice numbers, dates, amounts
7. Import data into accounting system

Result: Invoice data extracted in minutes instead of hours of manual data entry. Text files ready for automated parsing.

Use Case 4: Content Migration Project

Scenario: A company is migrating 100 PDF user manuals to a new web-based documentation system.

Approach:

1. Audit all PDF manuals
2. Separate by generation:
   • Older manuals (scanned): OCR Mode
   • Newer manuals (digital): Text Mode
3. Process in organized batches
4. Extract text while preserving filename structure
5. Import TXT files into CMS
6. Format and publish on new platform

Result: Entire PDF library converted to text format for modern CMS. Searchable, editable content replaces static PDFs.

Use Case 5: Historical Document Digitization

Scenario: A library is digitizing 60 scanned historical documents for public access.

Approach:

1. Scan all documents to PDF (already complete)
2. Group by language (English, French, German)
3. Process each language group separately with OCR
4. Batch 1-12: English documents (OCR Mode, English)
5. Batch 13-20: French documents (OCR Mode, French)
6. Review OCR accuracy and manually correct critical errors
7. Publish TXT files alongside PDFs

Result: Historical documents now searchable and accessible. Full-text search enables researchers to find relevant passages quickly.

Advanced Batch Processing Techniques

Automation with Scripts (For Technical Users)

While our web tool is perfect for most needs, technical users processing hundreds of files might benefit from command-line tools:

Using pdftotxt (Linux/Mac):

# Convert all PDFs in a folder
for file in *.pdf; do
  pdftotext "$file" "${file%.pdf}.txt"
done

Using Python with PyPDF2:

import os
from PyPDF2 import PdfReader

pdf_folder = "pdfs/"
txt_folder = "extracted_text/"

for filename in os.listdir(pdf_folder):
    if filename.endswith(".pdf"):
        pdf_path = os.path.join(pdf_folder, filename)
        txt_path = os.path.join(txt_folder, filename.replace(".pdf", ".txt"))

        reader = PdfReader(pdf_path)
        text = ""
        for page in reader.pages:
            text += page.extract_text()

        with open(txt_path, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            f.write(text)

Note: These methods only work for digital PDFs. For scanned PDFs, use our OCR-enabled web tool or install Tesseract OCR locally.

Quality Control Checklist

After batch conversion, verify your results:

• Check file count: Do you have TXT output for every PDF input?
• Spot-check content: Open a few TXT files to verify extraction quality
• Compare file sizes: Very small TXT files might indicate extraction failure
• Review encoding: Ensure special characters display correctly
• Test with use case: Try using the extracted text for its intended purpose

Why Choose Our Batch Converter?

Speed and Efficiency

Process up to 5 files simultaneously with parallel conversion. What would take 30-40 minutes manually completes in under 2 minutes.

OCR Support for Scanned PDFs

Unlike basic converters, we support OCR for scanned documents in 24+ languages. Extract text from old archives, scanned contracts, and image-based PDFs.

Privacy Protection

All processing happens in your browser. Your files never leave your device, ensuring complete privacy for sensitive documents, contracts, and personal information.

No Software Installation

Works entirely online—no downloads, installations, or updates required. Access from any device with a web browser.

Completely Free

Extract text from as many batches as you need without limits, subscriptions, or hidden fees.

Accurate Text Extraction

Advanced algorithms preserve text formatting, handle special characters, and maintain document structure where possible.

Conclusion

Batch converting PDF files to TXT transforms a tedious manual task into an efficient, streamlined process. Whether you're analyzing research papers, processing legal documents, extracting invoice data, or digitizing archives, the ability to extract text from multiple files simultaneously saves hours of work.

Key Takeaways:

• Upload up to 5 PDFs at once for parallel processing
• Choose Text Mode for digital PDFs, OCR Mode for scanned documents
• Select the correct OCR language for best accuracy
• Use consistent file naming for organized outputs
• Group files by type (digital vs. scanned) and language for optimal processing
• Download individually or as a convenient ZIP archive

Ready to streamline your document workflow? Try our free batch PDF to TXT converter and experience the efficiency of bulk text extraction. Your multiple PDF files will become searchable, editable text in minutes, not hours.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I convert more than 5 PDFs at once?

Currently, each batch supports up to 5 files to ensure optimal performance and speed. For larger collections, simply process files in multiple batches. The entire process takes just minutes even for dozens of files.

Does batch conversion work with scanned PDFs?

Yes! Select OCR Mode and choose the correct language. The converter will recognize text from scanned images across all files in the batch. Processing scanned PDFs takes longer than digital PDFs but works reliably.

Will the extracted text maintain formatting?

Basic text structure is preserved, including paragraphs and line breaks. However, complex formatting like tables, columns, and special layouts may not transfer perfectly to plain text format.

Can I convert password-protected PDFs in batch?

Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked before conversion. Most PDF readers allow you to remove passwords if you have the password. Once unlocked, they can be batch converted normally.

How accurate is OCR for batch processing?

OCR accuracy depends on scan quality and language selection. Clear, high-resolution scans with correct language settings typically achieve 95-99% accuracy. Low-quality scans may require manual review.

Can I extract text from PDFs with images and text mixed?

Yes. For digital PDFs, text content is extracted while images are ignored. For scanned PDFs or PDFs with text in images, use OCR Mode to recognize all visible text.

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Need to create PDFs in bulk? Check out how to batch convert TXT to PDF for the reverse workflow!