2 Methods to Copy Text From PDF on Mobile Devices

Copying PDF text on mobile phones is an important step in sharing or saving file content. This article provides a detailed guide on how to copy text from PDFs on Android and iOS.

Accurately Copy Text from a PDF on Android

PDFgear is a reliable tool for file reading and editing on Android phones. Its advanced OCR feature makes the PDF editable, allowing you to copy or rewrite it conveniently.

Text copying on the PDFgear Android version can be done in only 3 steps:

Step 1. Install and open PDFgear for Android.

Step 2. Add the PDF to PDFgear and open it.

Step 3. Long tap on and select the text area > Click “Copy” in the options.

To locate specific text in a long PDF document before copying, you can tap the magnifier to search for it. It’s quick and accurate.

PDFgear equips you with advanced editing features to enhance your document experience. With tools for annotation, text highlighting, and existing text editing, it transforms how you interact with PDFs.

Copy Text from Any PDF on iPhone with a Free Tool

For iOS users, PDFgear also offers a dedicated PDF editor and reader for quickly copying text from an editable PDF and a scanned PDF. This app is free and simple to use.

Follow the steps to quickly grab text from any PDF on iPhone:

Step 1. Get PDFgear for iOS from the App Store.

Step 2. Tap the plus icon to import a PDF. Then, open it in PDFgear.

Step 3. Long tap the text in the PDF > Choose “Copy.”

If you cannot copy the text from a scanned PDF, check if the Live Text feature (for iOS 15 and later) is active in Settings > General > Language & Region > Live Text.

Why I Can’t Copy Text From PDF on Mobile

There are common reasons why you cannot copy text from PDF on mobile.

▪️ The PDF viewer does not support directly copying text from scanned documents or image-based PDFs.

▪️ The PDF is locked or password-protected from any changes.

▪️ The PDF elements are merged into a single layer, making the text unselectable.

FAQs

Can You Copy Text From a PDF on Mobile Without an App?

Yes, you can copy text from a PDF on mobile without an app. Just open the PDF in a browser like Chrome, select the text you want, press the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut, or right-click and choose “Copy”.

How do I select all text from a PDF in my phone?

To select all text in a PDF on your phone, open the PDF, long press on any text, and choose “Select All” from the menu. This will allow you to highlight and select text from the entire document.

How to copy an image from a PDF in mobile?

There’s no straightforward way to copy an image from a PDF on mobile, but you can use PDFgear to convert the PDF to images without losing quality. Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the PDF and save the image as a new picture.

Can I convert a PDF to a Word document on Android to copy text?

You can convert a PDF to a Word document on Android using tools like PDFgear. It allows high-quality conversion without losing file formatting. Import the PDF to PDFgear for Android > Select the file and convert it to Word > Open the Word file and select the text for copying.

How to copy text from a scanned PDF?

As mentioned in this post, PDFgear for iOS enables copying text from a scanned PDF. Download and install PDFgear > Open a scanned PDF in this app > Tap to highlight the text area > Tap “Copy.“