{"id":3750,"date":"2026-02-27T17:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T17:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pdf.live\/resources\/?p=3750"},"modified":"2026-02-26T22:00:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T22:00:38","slug":"copying-text-from-pdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pdf.live\/resources\/working-with-pdfs\/copying-text-from-pdf\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Copy and Paste Text From a PDF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Looking to understand how to copy text from one PDF to paste into a document? Or, maybe you want to copy text from one PDF and paste it into another PDF?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PDFs are versatile document formats because they preserve formatting settings across any device. However, they can sometimes be tricky to work with, requiring special programs or apps to manage, alter, or adjust them. Fortunately, PDF.Live makes it easy to copy text from PDFs using the PDF.Live editor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll show you how you can copy text from a PDF and paste it wherever you\u2019d want. We\u2019ll also show how to copy text from one PDF and paste it in a second PDF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Copy Words From PDFs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Drag and drop your PDF into the PDF.Live editor. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"To<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You can also navigate to where your PDF is located on your computer and drag it from the file explorer into PDF.Live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. In the PDF.Live toolbar, select Edit Text<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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      1. In your PDF, you can now select text by clicking blocks of text. Highlight the text block you want to copy by double clicking it. You can then click and drag<\/strong> over the text. Press the Ctrl <\/strong>and C <\/strong>keys on your keyboard.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        This will copy the text to your computer\u2019s clipboard. The clipboard is where your computer stores all of the text, images, and other information that you\u2019ve copied at some point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Did you know you can access your Windows 11 computer\u2019s clipboard at any time by pressing the Windows <\/strong>and V <\/strong>keys on your keyboard?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        How to Paste Text From a PDF<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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        1. Open a Word document or another PDF (this will also work with Google Docs). In this example, we\u2019ll be pasting the text into another PDF using the PDF.Live editor. We\u2019ve opened a new PDF the same way we did above.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Select the area you want to paste your text in the PDF or document.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          In a document, you can select anywhere to paste your text. If you\u2019re using the PDF.Live editor you may need to select somewhere that text already exists. You can also select Add Text<\/strong> in the toolbar to add a new text box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          Clicking anywhere on the document with the Add Text<\/strong> tool will create a text box you can then paste your text into. Select the text box you\u2019ve created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          1. Press the Ctrl <\/strong>and V <\/strong>keys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

            If you want to check your clipboard history for all the different pieces of text that you\u2019ve copied, remember that Win + V <\/strong>will let you access this on a Windows device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            In the above PDF, we\u2019ve pasted the text from one PDF into a new text box in a second PDF. You\u2019ll notice that the formatting settings of the text weren\u2019t preserved between PDFs. For documents, this may work the same way, depending on your version of Microsoft Word or whatever application you\u2019re working with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The text you paste will likely use the font and formatting settings of the document that you\u2019ve pasted it in \u2014 unless you select to paste unformatted text. When you select Unformatted Text, this can be a little confusing \u2026 because it\u2019s not, technically, unformatted; what this really means is you want to paste the text to match the destination document\u2019s formatting, rather than bring over the source document\u2019s formatting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Here\u2019s how that works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n