Text to PDF
Plain text has words but no pages, fonts or margins. This converter adds them, so notes, logs, transcripts and exported chats become PDFs you can print, sign, file or attach to a ticket.
Convert to PDF
or drop DOC, DOCX, DOCM … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Convert the whole document or only some pages, slides or sheets.
Pages or slides to keep, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10. Numbers refer to the original document.
Source margins keep the document's own layout. Narrow is 12.7 mm, normal 25.4 mm, wide 50.8 mm left and right.
Excel, ODS and Numbers files: convert every sheet, or only the one that was open when the file was saved.
JPEG quality for photos inside the document. 90 looks identical to the source; lower it to make the PDF smaller.
Leave empty for no password. If set, the PDF asks for it before opening. Not available with PDF/A.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the text files
Add .txt files, or Markdown, RTF, HTML and CSV if that is what you have. Up to 20 files per batch, 95 MB each.
- 2
Set the page
Letter paper with normal 25.4 mm (1 inch) margins is preselected. Under Advanced settings switch Page size to A4 for printers outside North America, or pick narrow margins for long log lines.
- 3
Convert to PDF
Press Convert to PDF and download the files. Add an Open password first if the text contains anything private; files are deleted from our server after 30 minutes.
Text to PDF gives raw words a page: Letter or A4 paper, 1-inch margins, an embedded font and page numbers that stay the same for everyone.
Why plain text needs converting before you share it
A .txt file is the most portable document there is and also the least predictable on paper. Open the same file in Notepad, TextEdit, a phone notes app and a browser, and you will get four different fonts, four line lengths and, when printed, four page counts. That is fine for a configuration file. It is not fine for a meeting transcript you want everyone to cite by page, a server log attached to a support ticket, or a chat history a landlord or lawyer asked you to send.
Converting fixes those variables once. The text is set in an embedded font, wrapped to the page width you pick, and broken into numbered pages. Text stays selectable and searchable in the PDF, so a reader can still copy a line or search for a timestamp.
Text arrives from more places than people expect. Messaging apps export conversations as .txt, transcription services offer a plain-text download, and code editors and terminals write logs that way. On a Mac, check the file first: TextEdit saves rich text by default, so a note may actually be an .rtf, which this converter also accepts.
Text formats this converter turns into PDF
| from ↓ · to → | PDF/A | |
|---|---|---|
| TXT | TXT to PDF: yes | TXT to PDF/A: yes |
| MD | MD to PDF: yes | MD to PDF/A: yes |
| RTF | RTF to PDF: yes | RTF to PDF/A: yes |
| HTML | HTML to PDF: yes | HTML to PDF/A: yes |
| CSV | CSV to PDF: yes | CSV to PDF/A: yes |
TXT
Plain text
A TXT file contains only plain characters with no formatting, fonts, images or layout. Modern text files are usually encoded in UTF-8, which covers every language, though older files may use other encodings and show garbled characters. Plain text is tiny, never becomes obsolete and opens on every device, from phones to servers. It cannot hold bold text, tables or pictures, so structure must be expressed with spacing or simple markup.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- –
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
A text file has no page, font or margin of its own, so it prints differently from every editor; converting to PDF fixes one readable layout that can be filed, signed or attached as evidence.
Three checks before converting text to PDF
Encoding
Save the file as UTF-8 so accented letters, Asian scripts and emoji come out correctly instead of as boxes.
Line length
Logs and CSV rows can be very wide. Pick Narrow margins or switch Orientation to landscape so fewer lines wrap.
Privacy
Chat exports and logs often hold phone numbers and addresses. Remove what the recipient does not need, or add an Open password.
Text to PDF questions
Which encoding should my text file use?
UTF-8. It covers every language and emoji, and it has been the default in Windows Notepad since Windows 10 version 1903. A file saved in an old code page can show wrong accented letters; reopen it in your editor, save as UTF-8, and convert again.
How do I turn an exported WhatsApp chat into a PDF?
Use Export chat in WhatsApp and choose Without media; you receive a .txt file with one line per message. Upload that file here. If you need the photos too, convert them separately with Image to PDF and merge the two PDFs.
Will Markdown formatting show as headings and bold text?
Markdown and HTML files are rendered with their formatting, so headings, lists and bold text appear as such. A .txt file is printed exactly as written, including any asterisks.
Can I make a text PDF that nobody else can open?
Type a password in Open password under Advanced settings. Viewers will ask for it before showing the content. This is not available when PDF/A is selected, because the archive standard forbids encryption.
Is there a difference between this page and TXT to PDF?
Same converter, different starting point. This page assumes text from many sources, such as notes, chats and transcripts; TXT to PDF focuses on .txt files from editors and code tools.
Other things to do with a text file
| TXT to DOCX | TXT to EPUB | TXT to JPG |
| Markdown to PDF | RTF to PDF | HTML to PDF |