# How to convert a PDF to Markdown in your browser

Updated 26 September 2026

To convert a PDF to Markdown without uploading it, open the PDF in Chrome or Microsoft Edge, click the Pocketdown icon and press **Clip as Markdown**. Pocketdown reads the PDF's text layer inside your browser, rebuilds headings and paragraphs, and gives you a Markdown note. The file never leaves your computer, and it is free and unlimited.

## Step by step

1.  **Install Pocketdown.** Add it from the [Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/nelaefmjglapmijpoehfdijofjgencla).
2.  **Open the PDF in your browser.** Follow a link to a PDF, or drag a PDF file into a browser window (files on your computer need one setting — see below).
3.  **Click the Pocketdown icon.** The card is labelled **PDF**.
4.  **Press Clip as Markdown.** The Markdown is copied to your clipboard the first time; after that the button reuses how you delivered your last clip.

## PDFs saved on your computer

Browsers only let extensions read files opened from your own disk (addresses that start with `file://`) if you allow it. Open `chrome://extensions` (or `edge://extensions` in Edge), choose **Details** under Pocketdown and turn on **Allow access to file URLs**. PDFs opened from a website need nothing extra.

## What the Markdown looks like

Real output. Headings are recognised by type size, and lines that were broken to fit the page are joined back into paragraphs. The properties include `type: pdf` and the page count.

```markdown
---
title: Remote Work Policy
source: https://example.com/files/remote-work-policy.pdf
site: example.com
clipped: 2026-09-26
type: pdf
pages: 1
---

# Remote Work Policy

### 1. Scope

This policy applies to all full-time employees who work from home for two or more days a week.

### 2. Equipment

The company provides a laptop and a monitor. Employees are responsible for a reliable internet connection.
```

## Limits worth knowing

-   **Scanned PDFs have no text to extract.** A scan is a picture of a page, and Pocketdown doesn't do OCR, so there is nothing to convert.
-   **Complex layouts are approximate.** Multi-column pages, tables and footnotes are rebuilt from where text sits on the page and may need tidying.

## What leaves your browser

Nothing. The PDF is read and converted on your computer; it isn't uploaded to Pocketdown or to any conversion service.

## Questions

### Does Pocketdown upload my PDF?

No. The PDF is read and converted to Markdown inside your browser. It isn't uploaded to Pocketdown or to any conversion service.

### Can it convert scanned PDFs?

No. A scanned PDF is an image of each page with no text layer, and Pocketdown doesn't do OCR, so there is no text to extract.

### Why can't Pocketdown read a PDF from my computer?

Browsers block extensions from local files by default. In chrome://extensions, open Details for Pocketdown and turn on Allow access to file URLs.

### Is PDF to Markdown conversion free?

Yes. Converting PDFs, pages and articles is free and unlimited, with no account.

## More guides

-   [Save a YouTube transcript as Markdown](https://pocketdown.com/guides/youtube-transcript-to-markdown/) — Captions to a timestamped transcript, including videos with no caption file.
-   [Save Bilibili subtitles as Markdown](https://pocketdown.com/guides/bilibili-subtitles-to-markdown/) — Human-made and AI subtitles from 哔哩哔哩, with links back to each moment.
-   [Convert a web page to Markdown](https://pocketdown.com/guides/web-page-to-markdown/) — The article without the ads and menus — or just a selection, or one element.
-   [Clip web pages into Obsidian](https://pocketdown.com/guides/clip-to-obsidian/) — Straight into your vault as notes with properties, in the folder you choose.

[Add Pocketdown to your browser — free](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/nelaefmjglapmijpoehfdijofjgencla)

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Source: https://pocketdown.com/guides/pdf-to-markdown/ · Updated: 2026-09-26