TXT to PDF Converter
Set a plain text file from Notepad as a PDF, in the font, paper and margins you choose.
Drop a text (.txt) file here
You get a PDF file. Converted on this device: the file is not uploaded. Up to 50 MB.
Converting happens inside your browser, so this needs JavaScript turned on.
Preview
The preview shows the start of the document; the downloaded file has all of it.
Make a PDF from a text file
- Choose the page setup above: the font, its size, the paper and the margins. The defaults suit most Notepad files.
- Add the .txt file with the button, or drag it from Explorer or Finder onto the page.
- Check the preview, then download. Change any setting and the PDF is made again with it, without picking the file a second time.
The text never leaves your computer: your browser reads the file and writes the PDF itself.
Monospace or proportional?
A text file has no fonts of its own, so the choice is yours, and it changes how the page reads.
- Courier gives every character the same width, like a typewriter or a code editor. Columns lined up with spaces stay lined up, which is what you want for code, logs, configuration files, and tables or drawings made of characters.
- Times and Helvetica are proportional: an “i” is narrower than an “m”. Letters, notes and stories read more easily in them and fit more words on each line, but anything aligned with spaces will drift.
The PDF uses the standard fonts that every PDF reader has, so the file stays small and looks the same everywhere.
How the text is laid out
- Every line of the file starts a new line in the PDF, and blank lines stay blank.
- A line longer than the page wraps at a space; a word too long for a whole line is split.
- Tab characters jump to stops half an inch apart.
- The file may be UTF-8, UTF-16 (marked with a BOM) or Windows Western (1252); the page tells them apart by itself.
- Letters outside the Western European alphabet, such as Cyrillic, Greek or Chinese, are drawn as a picture of the text: sharp in print, but not selectable.
Want headings, bold or a different font for one paragraph? Open the file in the RTF editor, format it with the ribbon, and choose File → PDF document. For RTF files there is the RTF to PDF converter.
Questions
Notepad’s Print to PDF or this page: which should I use?
On Windows 10 and 11, Notepad can print a file to the Microsoft Print to PDF printer, in the font Notepad is set to. This page gives the PDF a font, size, paper and margins of its own without changing Notepad, shows the result before you save it, and works the same on a Mac, a Chromebook or a phone, where there is no Notepad.
Which font should I choose: Courier, Times or Helvetica?
Courier for anything lined up with spaces, such as code, logs or a table typed by hand: every character is the same width, so columns stay straight. Times or Helvetica for ordinary writing, which reads better and fits more words on a line in a proportional font.
Which paper size and margins should I pick?
US Letter in the United States and Canada, A4 almost everywhere else. Normal margins are 1 inch on every side; Narrow, half an inch, fits more on each page; WordPad uses the page WordPad started with, 1 inch at the top and bottom and 1.25 inches at the sides.
Why do some letters in my PDF look wrong?
The text file is probably in an older encoding the page cannot recognize. It understands UTF-8, UTF-16 that starts with a BOM, and the Windows Western code page; a file saved in, say, a Cyrillic or Greek Windows code page shows the wrong letters. Open it in Notepad, choose File → Save as, set Encoding to UTF-8, save, and convert the new file.
Are long lines cut off at the edge of the page?
No. A line that does not fit wraps at the last space before the margin and continues on the next line; a single word longer than the line is split. Nothing runs off the page, and new pages are added as needed.
Will the PDF have page numbers or a header?
Not on this page: the PDF holds the text of the file and nothing else. If you need a title or other formatting, open the text in the RTF editor, add it there and save a PDF from the File menu. Open the RTF editor.