How to Copy Text from PDF on Mac [Quick, Easy, and Free]

Copying text from a PDF on a Mac is essential for quoting and taking notes. However, when dealing with scanned documents or unclear text, extracting document text can become much more challenging.

Let’s drill down into the steps for text extraction on any macOS device.

How to Copy Text from PDF on Mac Using OCR for Free

PDFgear is a professional PDF editor that facilitates PDF text copying. This free app applies advanced OCR technology to recognize elements in a PDF and help extract text from an image-based file.

Its whole file OCR and screenshot OCR can help you get rid of endless scrolling for text selection. Powered by AI, PDFgear enables copied text translation and analysis with its chatbot, boosting the productivity of smart work.

Follow the next steps to copy the text in an image-based PDF on your Mac.

Step 1. Get PDFgear on your Mac > Click “Open File” > Choose a PDF to upload.

Step 2. For searchable PDF files, simply select the text in the document. When the words or paragraphs are highlighted, a pop-up menu shows up. Click “Copy” and the content is in your clipboard.

If the PDF is an image-based one, click the “OCR” button in the upper menu bar > Select OCR mode.

Step 3. In the pop-up window, you can choose to copy the text to the clipboard or export it as a text file.

How to Copy Text from a Scanned PDF on Mac with Live Text

Preview is a versatile default program that is available on all Macs. It allows you to view various documents and supports basic editing functions, such as PDF text extraction.

Due to its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with the operating system, it’s picked as the most ideal app for text copying. The Live Text feature on macOS Monterey 12.0 or higher changes the game. You can now easily grab a column of text from a scanned PDF even if the text is a bit blurry:

Step 1. Go to Settings > General > Language & Region. Navigate “Live Text” and switch it on.

Step 2. Select a PDF file and open it with Preview.

Step 3. Hold down the “Option” key and select text. You can also click “Tools” > “Text Selection” > Drag the cursor to select the content you want to copy.

Step 4. Press Command ⌘ + C or click “Edit” > “Copy” to successfully copy the selected text.

Here’s a tip to speed up text copying with Live Text:

Use Shift + Command ⌘ + 4 to screenshot the text area, and click the screenshot on the lower right corner of the screen. When the picture is open, tap the Live Text icon and choose “Copy All”

FAQs

Why I Can’t Copy the Text From the PDF on Mac?

There are many reasons why text in PDF cannot be copied on Mac. The two most common causes are:

• The PDF document is scanned or only contains images.
• The PDF document is protected, and the function of preventing copying is turned on.

How To Copy Text From a PDF on Mac?

Depending on the PDF document, the method for copying text in a PDF on the Mac varies.

How to copy ordinary PDF text: Use the Mac’s Preview function to copy the desired PDF text in a few minutes

How to copy text in image-based PDF: The easiest way is to use the OCR tool. PDFgear Desktop OCR is a powerful tool that can quickly copy the text of a PDF in only three steps.

How to copy the text in a secure PDF: First, go to PDRgear Online Unlocker to crack the PDF password, and then PDFgear’s PDF editing function can help you quickly get the PDF text you want to copy.

How Do I Copy Text From a PDF to Word on a Mac?

The easiest way to copy text from PDF to Word is to use Preview.

Open the PDF in Preview > Click “Tools” > “Text Selection” to select the text to be copied > Click “Copy” to copy the text to the clipboard.

Conclusion

Copying text from PDF on Mac can be a challenging task, especially when faced with scanned or secured PDFs. However, tools such as Preview and PDFgear provide effective solutions for these scenarios. After learning these methods, you will be able to process PDF documents more efficiently and quickly.