--- title: "Convert to Markdown" description: "Convert to Markdown is the markitdown.ai single-file converter that turns PDFs, Office files, images, HTML, and URLs into structured Markdown." url: https://markitdown.ai/convert updated: 2026-09-26 source: markitdown.ai --- # Convert to Markdown > Convert to Markdown is the markitdown.ai single-file converter that turns PDFs, Office files, images, HTML, and URLs into structured Markdown. The anonymous trial accepts files up to 10 MB and 25 pages, with 3 conversions per IP per hour and 10 a day. Lite starts at $20 per month with files up to 100 MB. Pro is $50 per month; Max is $100 per month. - Structure-aware output for LLMs, RAG, and agents - Preview the rendered Markdown before you copy or download - Server-side conversion pipeline — not fragile browser copy-paste ## Structure that survives conversion The goal is not just to extract text once, but to produce Markdown that downstream tools — ChatGPT, Claude, RAG chunking, and automation — can rely on. - Headings and hierarchy — Section structure stays intact, so the document reads as an outline instead of one undifferentiated block of text. - Tables and lists — Rows, columns, and bullet structure are preserved as Markdown rather than flattened into loose prose. - Reading order — Multi-column pages, headers, and footnotes are resolved into the order a person actually reads. - Preview and source mode — Review the rendered Markdown, then switch to source when you need clean input for a pipeline. ## Supported formats Convert accepts the file types below and always returns Markdown. Every format also has its own page, such as [PDF to Markdown](/pdf-to-markdown). The free public trial takes files up to 10 MB; plan limits are on the [pricing page](/pricing). From Markdown you can go on to [HTML](/markdown-to-html), [plain text](/markdown-to-text), or a [printable PDF](/markdown-to-pdf). - PDF — .pdf — Reports, papers, manuals, and contracts; scanned pages use OCR. - Word — .doc .docx .odt .rtf — Headings, lists, tables, and review comments carry over. - PowerPoint — .ppt .pptx .odp — Slide titles, bullets, and speaker notes, slide by slide. - Excel — .xls .xlsx .ods .csv — Each sheet becomes a Markdown table labelled with its name. - Images — .png .jpg .jpeg .webp .gif .bmp .tif .tiff — Screenshots, photos, and scans, read with OCR. - HTML — .html .htm — Saved web pages, with headings, links, and tables kept. - Text — .txt .md — Plain text and existing Markdown, normalized. - Web pages — Public URL — Paste a public URL; the page is fetched and converted. ## How conversion works One file, three steps. Longer documents are processed asynchronously, so a large PDF does not block the page. 1. Upload a file or paste a URL — Drop a document in the browser, or point the converter at a public web page. 2. The pipeline rebuilds structure — Conversion runs server-side, so large or complex documents are handled the same way every time. 3. Preview, copy, download, or save — Read the result first, then copy it, download the Markdown, or save it to your library. ## Converted Markdown vs copy-paste Copy-paste from a PDF interleaves columns, flattens tables, and drops headings; ad-hoc extraction leaves page numbers and broken hyphenation. A conversion pipeline reconstructs reading order and structure so the Markdown stays consistent across thousands of documents instead of failing on the messy ones. Need conversion in your own code or in bulk? Use the [developer API](/developers) or [Batch Convert](/batch-convert). ## Traceable output Keep a source filename and revision reference beside the Markdown you reuse. When the source changes, convert the new version and compare the relevant passages instead of silently replacing a reviewed output. This matters when several people use the text or when a retrieved answer needs to cite its origin. A traceable conversion lets a reader check an uncertain table or sentence without guessing which source file produced it. ## Choosing the source Convert to Markdown from the most informative source you have. If the original document is an editable Word file, use that file rather than printing it to PDF first. If a spreadsheet is available, convert the workbook instead of taking a screenshot of its table. If the only source is a scan, use the PDF or image route and plan to review OCR output. A public webpage can be submitted by URL, while saved HTML belongs in the HTML converter. Choosing the right source avoids losing useful structure before conversion even starts. It also makes a later comparison easier because the Markdown can be checked against the document that actually contains the information. ## Reviewing the output Read the converted Markdown as a document, then compare the parts where its source format is most complicated. For a report, follow the reading order across columns and inspect table headers. For a presentation, confirm that notes belong to the slide they explain. For a workbook, check worksheet names and the position of numeric values. A result that looks tidy is not automatically complete. Keep the original open while you inspect the rendered preview and raw Markdown, and confirm that the end of the document is present. When you copy the result into another tool, review it there too: the destination may render tables, links or code differently from the preview on this page. ## Markdown for AI tools Convert to Markdown when you want a text representation that ChatGPT, Claude or your own retrieval pipeline can consume and that you can inspect yourself. Clear headings help preserve context, and supported tables keep relationships that would be difficult to recover from a loose list of numbers. The output still needs source review before you rely on it. Conversion does not verify a claim, choose which paragraphs are relevant or prevent a downstream model from making mistakes. Keep a reference to the source and provide the context needed for the question you are asking. For automated retrieval, evaluate chunking and search separately after you have verified the conversion itself. ## Anonymous trial limits The anonymous browser trial accepts a file up to 10 MB and 25 pages, with 3 conversions per client IP per hour and 10 a day. It is intended for checking a result before choosing a subscription. A new account does not create a monthly allowance of conversion credits. Lite, Pro and Max are the subscription plans for account conversion, saved history, batches and API use. Limits differ by plan, so check the pricing page before submitting a larger collection. A webpage must also be publicly accessible: URL conversion does not log into a website or execute its client-side JavaScript, and navigation or advertisements may remain in the text. ## After conversion Keep the Markdown as an editable source for a note, a repository document or an ingestion process. If the next destination needs a different representation, the browser tools can render Markdown as HTML, remove formatting for plain text or open a print workflow for saving a PDF. Those steps change the representation of the output; they do not reconstruct the original document’s layout. For repeated input documents, move to Batch Convert or the developer API after checking representative samples. Keep the source name and a meaningful reference with the exported content so someone reviewing it later can identify where it came from. Conversion is most useful when the resulting text remains traceable and easy to check. ## FAQ ### What makes the output AI-ready? Conversion preserves headings, lists, tables, and reading order where possible, so the Markdown is predictable enough to chunk, embed, and retrieve without manual cleanup. ### Which file types can I convert? PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, images, HTML, plain text, and public web pages by URL — the full list of file extensions is under Supported formats. The free public converter accepts files up to 10 MB. ### Do you support scanned documents? Image-based files and scanned documents are processed with OCR today. Recognition quality depends on the source image. ### How is Convert different from Batch Convert and the API? Convert is the single-document experience in the browser. Batch Convert runs many files at once, and the API runs the same conversion from your own code. They all share one conversion engine. ### Is this a document editor or a PDF layout tool? Neither. markitdown.ai converts documents into clean Markdown for AI and text workflows; it is not a visual PDF or layout editor. ## Sources - [CommonMark Spec](https://spec.commonmark.org/) - [RFC 7763: The text/markdown Media Type](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7763) ## Related - [PDF to Markdown Converter](https://markitdown.ai/pdf-to-markdown) - [Batch convert to Markdown](https://markitdown.ai/batch-convert) - [Document Conversion APIs](https://markitdown.ai/developers)