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
fiimport base64
import os
import requests
key = os.environ["PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY"]
response = requests.post(
"https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/pptx/to/txt",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {key}"},
files=[("File", open("calloway-ferry-winter.pptx", "rb"))],
timeout=180,
)
result = response.json()
if not response.ok:
raise SystemExit(f"{result['Code']}: {result['Message']}")
os.makedirs("converted", exist_ok=True)
for file in result["Files"]:
path = os.path.join("converted", file["FileName"])
with open(path, "wb") as out:
out.write(base64.b64decode(file["FileData"]))
print(path, file["FileSize"], "bytes")
import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
import { join } from "node:path";
const form = new FormData();
const file = "calloway-ferry-winter.pptx";
form.append("File", new Blob([await readFile(file)]), file);
const url = "https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/pptx/to/txt";
const key = process.env.PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY;
const response = await fetch(url, {
method: "POST",
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}` },
body: form,
});
const result = await response.json();
if (!response.ok) {
throw new Error(`${result.Code}: ${result.Message}`);
}
await mkdir("converted", { recursive: true });
for (const file of result.Files) {
const path = join("converted", file.FileName);
await writeFile(path, Buffer.from(file.FileData, "base64"));
console.log(path, file.FileSize, "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.
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
ConvertHiddenSlidesboolean, default false | Include hidden slides. For the sample this adds two lines, the hidden slide's title and its sentence about fares (881 bytes instead of 775). |
Passwordstring | Password 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. |
FileNamestring | Name of the text file, without the extension. |
Not supported yet
Setting one of these to anything but its default returns 400.
| Option | What to do instead |
|---|---|
PageRange | Any value returns 400; the text of all visible slides is always returned. |
OcrMode | Text in pictures is not read. Only auto is accepted. |
OcrLanguage | Only auto is accepted. |
IncludeFormatting | The 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
Passwordreturns 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.