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pdfconversionapi

PPTX to TXT API

POST /v2/convert/pptx/to/txt returns the text of each visible slide as a plain-text outline: the title on its own line, the text under it indented by one tab per level. The sample deck comes back as a 775-byte, 19-line file.

Endpoint
POST /v2/convert/pptx/to/txt
Accepts
pptx
Sample timing
44 ms median of 5 runsHow we measure
Request size
Up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files together

Request and response

Every sample below ran against the API before this page was published. Set PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY to your key and run it as is.

curl -sS -X POST \
  https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/pptx/to/txt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY" \
  -F File=@calloway-ferry-winter.pptx \
  -o response.json

# FileData is base64. Save the first file in converted/,
# or print the JSON error.
if jq -e '.Files' response.json > /dev/null; then
  mkdir -p converted
  name=$(jq -r '.Files[0].FileName' response.json)
  jq -r '.Files[0].FileData' response.json \
    | base64 --decode > "converted/$name"
else
  cat response.json
fi
200 OK44 ms median1 file, 775 bytes
{
  "ConversionCost": 1,
  "ConversionTime": 0.044,
  "Files": [
    {
      "FileName": "calloway-ferry-winter.txt",
      "FileExt": "txt",
      "FileSize": 775,
      "FileData": "V2ludGVyIHRpbWV0YWJsZQoJ…"
    }
  ]
}

Response from our test run on 2026-11-03. ConversionTime shows the median of 5 runs. FileData is shortened here; the real response carries the whole file as base64.

The sample, converted

The same file the code sends. Download the input and the output and compare them yourself.

calloway-ferry-winter.txt, 19 lines

Winter timetable	Calloway Bay Ferries, from December 1	A fictional operator. Sample deck for pdfconversionapi.com, released under CC0 1.0.What changes on December 1	Crossings every 40 minutes, down from every 30		First boat 6:20 a.m., last boat 9:40 p.m.	Gull Point is served on weekends only		Weekday riders take the shuttle bus from Harbor Square	Bikes ride free on every crossingWeekday departures from North Pier	Boat	Leaves	Harbor Square	Gull Point	Calloway Star	6:20 a.m.	6:42 a.m.	weekends	Calloway Star	7:00 a.m.	7:22 a.m.	weekends	Bay Runner	7:40 a.m.	8:02 a.m.	weekends	Bay Runner	9:40 p.m.	10:02 p.m.	no serviceRiders per week, 2026Where the boats stop	Ticket office at Harbor Square opens at 6:00 a.m.	Dashed lines: crossings. Map not to scale.
Input
calloway-ferry-winter.pptx (46 KB)
Output
calloway-ferry-winter.txt (775 bytes)
Source
A six-slide winter timetable deck for a fictional ferry operator, made by us for this site; slide 5 is hidden and slide 2 has speaker notes. (CC0-1.0). How it was made
Made by
2026-11-04, API build 9eeeb0640aba

Parameters

Send these as form fields next to the file. Names are case-insensitive. If you set one of the documented options below that we don't support yet, the request fails with a 400 that names it instead of returning a file made without it.

ParameterWhat it does
ConvertHiddenSlidesboolean, default falseInclude hidden slides. For the sample this adds two lines, the hidden slide's title and its sentence about fares (881 bytes instead of 775).
PasswordstringPassword of an encrypted deck. Letters outside ASCII work: a copy locked with Fähre-渡船-2026 gave the same text, and Fahre-渡船-2026 was refused.
FileNamestringName of the text file, without the extension.

Not supported yet

Setting one of these to anything but its default returns 400.

OptionWhat to do instead
PageRangeAny value returns 400; the text of all visible slides is always returned.
OcrModeText in pictures is not read. Only auto is accepted.
OcrLanguageOnly auto is accepted.
IncludeFormattingThe output is always plain text; true returns 400.

What carries over, and what doesn't

Kept

  • Slide titles at the start of a line, in deck order
  • Indent levels as tab characters: one tab for a slide's main text, two for the points under it
  • Table rows on one line each, with a tab between cells
  • Text in shapes and text boxes as well as in placeholders
  • UTF-8 characters such as é and – as they are; lines end with a single line feed

Lost or not yet supported

  • Speaker notes. IncludeSpeakerNotes=true, which ConvertAPI documents for Markdown only, is refused here too.
  • Anything in a chart: the sample's bar chart contributes only its slide title.
  • Words inside pictures, which are not read with OCR.
  • Slide boundaries other than titles. There is no page break between slides and no blank line, except that a slide without a title gets an empty line in the title's place before its indented text.

Limits

  • One deck per request and up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans for the request.
  • A conversion is stopped after 120 seconds with 504.
  • An encrypted deck without the right Password returns 422 "the input file is password-protected".

Where teams use it

Full-text search over a deck library

Index the text next to each file so a search for "Gull Point" finds the deck and the slide title it sits under. The outline is small: 775 bytes for six slides.

Checking decks before they go out

Run the text through a spell checker, a banned-terms list or a word count in your pipeline, with no PowerPoint involved.

Comparing two versions of a deck

Line-based diff tools work on the outline directly: each title and bullet is one line, so an edited bullet shows up as one changed line.

Questions

How are titles told apart from body text?

By indentation. Titles have no leading tab; everything on the slide below the title starts with one or more tabs. In the sample, What changes on December 1 is followed by \tCrossings every 40 minutes, down from every 30 and \t\tFirst boat 6:20 a.m., last boat 9:40 p.m..

Does the text include hidden slides and notes?

Hidden slides only with ConvertHiddenSlides=true. Notes are never included. Slide 5 of the sample is hidden and slide 2 has a note; neither appears in the default output.

Why is a table row on one line?

The outline writes each row as one line and separates the cells with tabs, so Calloway Star, 6:20 a.m., 6:42 a.m. and weekends share a line. Split on tabs to get the cells back.

Should I use this or PPTX to Markdown?

The content is the same outline. /v2/convert/pptx/to/md marks titles with ## and points with -, which suits Markdown renderers and splitting text by slide heading; this route keeps raw tabs, which suits search indexing and diffing.

Convert your first PPTX file in a minute.