What happens when you convert TXT to PDF
- Plain text is already close to Markdown. Characters Markdown would read as formatting, such as asterisks and a # at the start of a line, are escaped, and single line breaks are kept as hard breaks, so the text renders exactly as written.
How to convert TXT to PDF online
- Press "Choose TXT files" and select one or more files, or drag them onto the box. You can add files of any size your device can hold in memory.
- There are no settings to choose: the converter keeps everything the target format can hold.
- Press "Convert to PDF". A small document library loads the first time; documents then convert in a second or two.
- Save each PDF with its download button. Close the tab and every trace of the files is gone from memory.
Why convert TXT to PDF?
TXT files usually come from notes, logs, extracted text and anything that must open everywhere. People convert them to PDF because a PDF looks the same on every device and is what forms, portals and printers ask for.
In short, TXT is good at what it was made for, and PDF is the more practical choice when the file has to open, upload or print somewhere else. TXT opens in every browser, text editor and phone, while PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer.
How to convert TXT to PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
On Windows
Open this page in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, drag your TXT files in from File Explorer, and press Convert. Each PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.
On a Mac
Safari, Chrome and Firefox all work. Drag the TXT files from Finder onto the drop zone and the PDF files land in Downloads.
On iPhone and iPad
Open the page in Safari and tap Choose TXT files. You can pick from Photos or from the Files app. The converted PDF appears in Files, in the Downloads folder.
On Android
Open the page in Chrome, tap Choose TXT files and pick them from Files or your gallery. The PDF is saved to the Download folder, where any file manager can find it.
Best settings for TXT to PDF
The layout is fixed: DejaVu Sans at 11 points, A4 pages, 2 cm margins and automatic line wrapping. That suits notes, logs and letters. For designed documents, set the layout in a word processor and export PDF from there.
The output is UTF-8, so accented letters and other alphabets are kept exactly.
TXT vs PDF: the differences
| TXT | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Plain text | Portable Document Format |
| Type | document | document |
| Created by | no single author | Adobe |
| First released | 1963 | 1993 |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy or lossless |
| Transparency | n/a | No |
| Animation | n/a | No |
| Vector or raster | n/a | Vector |
| Colour | n/a | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| What it holds | characters only, with no formatting | any colour, pages can mix text, vectors and images |
| In a browser | opens in every browser, text editor and phone | opens in every browser's built-in viewer |
| Common uses | notes, logs, extracted text and anything that must open everywhere | documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files |
| MIME type | text/plain | application/pdf |
About TXT and PDF files
What is a TXT file?
A TXT file holds nothing but characters: no fonts, images or layout. Modern text files are usually UTF-8, which covers every language.
What is a PDF file?
A PDF fixes the layout of every page so it looks the same on any device. Converting a PDF to an image renders each page to pixels; converting an image to PDF wraps it as a page.
TXT to PDF not working? Common problems
- The result is empty. For PDFs, this means the pages are images without a text layer; use OCR through JPG to TXT instead.
- Some formatting is missing. Plain text and simple HTML have no place for page layout, fonts or colours; only structure and words are kept.
- Characters show as boxes in the PDF. The embedded font does not cover that script, such as Chinese or Hindi.
Convert TXT to PDF from the command line
Pandoc converts between document formats on the command line:
pandoc input.txt -o output.pdfThe converter on this page does the same job in your browser, without installing anything.
TXT to PDF converter FAQ
Will I lose quality converting TXT to PDF?
Every character the embedded DejaVu Sans font covers is kept exactly. Characters outside it, such as Chinese or Hindi, cannot be shown.
Why is the PDF a different size from the TXT?
The PDF includes the embedded font, so even a short text makes a file of a few hundred kilobytes.
Are my TXT files uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs inside this browser tab using open-source document libraries (mammoth.js, PDF.js and pdf-lib), so your files stay on your device. You can disconnect from the internet after the page and converter engine have loaded and it still works.
Can I convert several TXT files to PDF at once?
Yes. Select or drop as many files as you like; they are converted one after another and each gets its own download button.
How do I open a PDF file?
PDF opens in every browser's built-in viewer. PDF is common for documents, forms, invoices and print-ready files.
Is this TXT to PDF converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many files you convert. The site is paid for by advertising, and because conversions run on your device there is no server cost per file.
Can I convert TXT to PDF on my phone?
Yes. The converter works in Safari on iPhone and iPad and in Chrome on Android. Converted files are saved to the Downloads folder.