PDF to Markdown
Get structured Markdown with headings, lists, and document structure. Drag and drop your PDF and receive clean, editable Markdown in seconds. No signup required for the first 2 pages.
Converting PDF to Markdown gives you structured, editable content that works in docs, version control, and CMSs. Our free PDF to Markdown converter extracts text and detects headings, lists, and layout so you get clean .md output with # ## ### for titles and sections, bullet and numbered lists, and optional page comments. No signup is required for the first 2 pages; create a free account for full-document conversion and API access. We process files in memory and never store your documents. For plain text without structure, use our PDF to Text tool; for search inside a PDF, try Search in PDF. Browse all free document tools on DocLD.
Why Convert PDF to Markdown?
Structured Markdown is ideal for docs, version control, and APIs. Our converter preserves headings, lists, and layout so you get ready-to-use content.
Headings & Structure
Titles and section headers become proper Markdown headings (# ## ###) so your content is ready for docs and static sites.
Private & Secure
Your files are processed securely and never stored. Privacy is our top priority.
API-Ready
Use the same pipeline via our API for batch conversion and automated workflows.
How It Works
Convert your PDF to Markdown in four simple steps
Upload PDF
Drag and drop your PDF or click to browse. We accept all standard PDF formats.
Structure Detection
Our parser detects titles, headings, lists, and tables from the PDF layout.
Markdown Generation
Content is converted to clean Markdown with proper syntax for headings and lists.
Download .md
Copy to clipboard or download as a .md file. Use it in docs, Git, or your CMS.
How We Compare
See how DocLD stacks up against other PDF to Markdown converters
| Feature | DocLD | Adobe Acrobat | Free Online Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markdown Output | Limited | ||
| Headings & Lists | Partial | ||
| OCR Support | Partial | Limited | |
| Privacy (No Storage) | |||
| Free Tier | 2 pages free | Limited | |
| No Sign-up Required | |||
| API Access |
Popular Use Cases
PDF to Markdown is used by developers and content teams everywhere
Documentation
Turn PDF specs and guides into Markdown for MkDocs, Docusaurus, or GitHub wikis.
Content Migration
Migrate PDF archives to headless CMSs, static site generators, or Notion.
Academic & Research
Convert papers and reports to Markdown for notes, Zotero, or Obsidian.
API Pipelines
Use our API to convert PDFs to Markdown in batch or automated workflows.
Blog & CMS
Import PDF articles as Markdown into WordPress, Ghost, or custom CMSs.
Search & Index
Structure PDF content as Markdown for better indexing and search.
What’s in the Markdown Output?
We output standard Markdown: titles and section headers become #, ##, ### headings; bullet and numbered lists become - and 1. items. Key-value pairs can appear as bold labels. For long documents we can add optional page-break comments so you can map content back to PDF pages. Use the output in MkDocs, Docusaurus, GitHub wikis, Notion, or any Markdown-capable CMS. For raw text without structure, use our PDF to Text converter.
Structure Accuracy by PDF Type
Our converter preserves headings, lists, and layout across native and scanned PDFs. Native text PDFs give the best structure detection; OCR handles scanned docs.
- Native PDFs: 99%+ structure accuracy
- Mixed content: Headings and lists preserved
- Scanned docs: OCR + structure inference
Tips for Best Results
Get the cleanest Markdown from your PDFs
Use Native PDFs When Possible
PDFs created from digital documents (not scans) produce the best heading and list detection.
Review Heading Levels
We infer # ## ### from font size. You can tweak levels in your editor after download.
Your Data Stays Private
Files are processed in memory and discarded. We never store your documents.
Use the API for Batch
Need to convert many PDFs? Our API supports batch conversion and webhooks.
High-quality scans for OCR
For scanned PDFs, 300 DPI or higher improves structure detection and list recognition.
Tweak heading levels in your editor
We infer heading depth from font size; you can adjust # levels after download for your docs theme.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Convert More PDFs?
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