For this, you will need to make the following steps: open PDF file on Mac in Preview. Few people know that text from a PDF document can be simply copied and pasted into a text editor. As a result, the converted file will appear on the Mac in the specified folder and it can be edited at your discretion. Microsoft Word in this list will be the first. In the second window that opens, select the desired format. To do this, call the pop-up menu and click on the item 'Download as. After that you need to save it in text format. Next, click on the Download button and select the desired PDF file. First, you need to go to Google Docs and log in using your Google account. In order to convert PDF documents using Google Docs, it is necessary to do a few simple manipulations. Have a look at the retrieval methods you can use if you need to work with the text from PDF. Four Ways on How to Extract Text from a PDF File In order to convert a PDF file into an editable document and get text from pdf one should find out how to open it in a text editor like Microsoft Word, or Pages on Mac. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to open files in PDF format in a text editor.