Summarize a PDF with AI
Drop in a textbook chapter, a report, an article or a contract as a PDF, then pick a short summary, a normal summary with the key points, or a structured study guide. The summary is written in English, even if the document is in another language.
- Free, no sign-up
- 3 summary lengths
- Study guide mode
- Scanned PDFs read by OCR
Privacy — The PDF stays on your device: its text is extracted in your browser, and only that text is sent to our server to be summarized, then discarded. No account is needed.
How do you summarize a PDF?
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Drop in the PDF
Drag the file into the box or pick it from your computer or phone. Its text is read right away in your browser, page by page.
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Choose the length
Short for the big picture in a few sentences, Normal for the essentials and key points, Study guide for a detailed outline, section by section.
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Read, copy, download
The summary appears in a few seconds. Copy it in one click or download it as a .txt file, then try another length if you like.
A faithful PDF summary, at the length you want
Short, normal or study guide
One paragraph of a few sentences, a three-part summary (in brief, key points, takeaways), or a study guide with a heading for each main section.
True to the document
The AI sticks to what the PDF says: definitions, dates, figures and conclusions, with no opinions or additions, and the original technical terms.
Any language in
A PDF in Spanish, French or German is summarized straight into English: handy for a research paper, a foreign contract or a user manual.
Even scanned PDFs
If the PDF is only an image (a scan or a photo), the text can be read with character recognition (OCR) before it's summarized.
Summarize a PDF for free, without an account or copy-pasting
A 30-page report to read before a meeting, a research paper, a lease or a contract, meeting minutes, a textbook chapter: drop in the file and get the gist in a minute. There's no need to sign up for an AI chatbot or copy and paste the text page by page. The PDF is read in your browser, then the text is sent to our AI summarizing service, which sends it back neatly formatted, with headings and bullet points. The page works on a computer as well as on a phone (iPhone or Android), and the summary can be copied into an email, a Word or Google Docs document, or a note in one click. You can ask for all three lengths for the same file without uploading it again.
Turn a PDF textbook chapter into a study guide
To prepare for a test, finals, the SAT, a midterm or a certification exam, choose "Study guide": the AI splits the material into its main sections and lists under each one the ideas, definitions, dates, formulas and figures you need to know, then ends with what you absolutely must remember. It's a great starting point to review with your notes at hand: you remember a study guide much better when you correct it, fill it in and rewrite it yourself. For a very long course packet, summarize it chapter by chapter (pull out the pages you need first with "Split PDF"): each guide will be more precise. The short summary, on the other hand, tells you in thirty seconds what a document is about.
Scanned, protected or very long PDFs: what to know
The summary is based on the PDF's text. A PDF made from Word, a website or another program contains text, and it's read instantly. A scanned or photographed PDF contains only images: the tool detects this and offers to read the pages with OCR, right on your device, once you choose the document's language (the first 30 image pages; for more, use "OCR PDF" first). A PDF locked with an open password has to be unlocked first. Finally, each summary covers about 120,000 characters, roughly 40 to 60 pages of dense text: for a longer document, the page tells you which page the summary goes up to, and you can summarize the rest separately.
AI summaries: how to use them wisely
An automatic summary saves a lot of time, but it has to condense: nuances, exceptions or minor figures disappear, and a sentence can be misunderstood, especially if the original text was poorly extracted (complex tables, columns, a blurry scan). For an important decision, a contract, an exam or a quote, always check what matters to you in the PDF itself. Math formulas, diagrams and pictures are not read either: only the text is. To get all the raw text of the document, word for word, use "PDF to Text".
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I summarize a PDF for free?
Drop the PDF on this page, choose Short, Normal or Study guide, then tap "Summarize PDF". The summary appears in a few seconds, with no sign-up and no limit on the number of files.
Is my PDF uploaded to the internet?
The PDF file isn't: it's opened in your browser. Only the extracted text is sent to our server to be summarized by AI, and then it's discarded. No account is needed.
Can it summarize a PDF in another language into English?
Yes. Whatever language the document is in, the summary is written in the language of this page, here English. Technical terms may stay in the original language when that's clearer.
What's the maximum PDF size?
There's no page limit for opening the file, but the summary covers about 120,000 characters, or 40 to 60 pages of dense text. Beyond that, the page shows the last page included: summarize the rest separately.
Why does the tool say my PDF has no text?
It's a scan or a photo: the pages are images. Tap "Read text from image pages (OCR)", choosing the document's language, then start the summary. If the reading is poor (blurry scan, handwriting), the summary will be too.
Is the summary reliable?
It's written to stay true to the document, with no additions or opinions, but an AI can make mistakes or oversimplify. For an important figure, date or clause, check the PDF.