Are uploaded PDFs sent anywhere?

No. pdfjs-dist parses the file in your browser and the search runs through the browser's JavaScript engine — there is no upload destination.

Can I search scanned (image-only) PDFs?

Only PDFs with an embedded text layer (typeset / OCR-processed documents) can be searched. Pure raster scans return zero hits.

How much regex syntax is supported?

Native JavaScript RegExp grammar — captures, back-references, look-ahead/behind, Unicode property escapes (`\p{Letter}`), named captures, etc. No delimiters (`/foo/i`) are needed; flags come from the checkboxes.

What does multi-line mode change?

By default each line of the page is matched separately. Multi-line mode treats the entire document as a single string, so cross-line matches and `.` matching newlines work (equivalent to enabling the `s` flag). Surrounding context is also expanded.

Can it handle password-protected PDFs?

No — use the pdf-unlock tool first, then re-add the file. The tool surfaces a banner with a link when it detects an encrypted document.

Will many results freeze the browser?

Hits are rendered without a hard cap, so extreme match counts (10k+) can slow the page. Narrow the query or grab the CSV export and analyze offline.

Back to PDF

PDF text search — full-text search across multiple PDFs

Search several PDFs at once and inspect every match with its page number and surrounding context. Toggle case sensitivity, word boundaries (\b), regular expressions, and a multi-line mode. Adjust the query or context width (10–200 chars) and the matches refresh live. Each file shows a hit count and the full result set can be downloaded as CSV. Uploaded PDFs never leave the browser.

pdftextextract

How to use

Drop one or more PDFs and start typing a query — for each match the result panel shows the page number plus context characters before/after the hit. The four search options are case sensitivity, whole-word boundary (\b), regular expressions, and a multi-line / single-string mode (s flag); flipping any of them re-runs the search instantly. The context width slider (10–200 chars) controls how much surrounding text is shown. Each PDF card surfaces a hit count so you can triage files first and drill into specific matches second. The full result set can be exported as CSV (file, page, line, context, match).

FAQ

Are uploaded PDFs sent anywhere?: No. pdfjs-dist parses the file in your browser and the search runs through the browser's JavaScript engine — there is no upload destination.
Can I search scanned (image-only) PDFs?: Only PDFs with an embedded text layer (typeset / OCR-processed documents) can be searched. Pure raster scans return zero hits.
How much regex syntax is supported?: Native JavaScript RegExp grammar — captures, back-references, look-ahead/behind, Unicode property escapes (`\p{Letter}`), named captures, etc. No delimiters (`/foo/i`) are needed; flags come from the checkboxes.
What does multi-line mode change?: By default each line of the page is matched separately. Multi-line mode treats the entire document as a single string, so cross-line matches and `.` matching newlines work (equivalent to enabling the `s` flag). Surrounding context is also expanded.
Can it handle password-protected PDFs?: No — use the pdf-unlock tool first, then re-add the file. The tool surfaces a banner with a link when it detects an encrypted document.
Will many results freeze the browser?: Hits are rendered without a hard cap, so extreme match counts (10k+) can slow the page. Narrow the query or grab the CSV export and analyze offline.

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