How to Save a Webpage as Plain Text (5 Methods)
To save a webpage as plain text, copy the content into a plain-text editor and save it as a .txt file. Try a reading view first for an article with distracting navigation. Choose Markdown when you also want heading structure and link destinations.
The quickest way to save a webpage as .txt
- Open the page and expand the content you need.
- Select the article text and copy it into Notepad or another editor in plain-text mode.
- Save as
article.txt, using UTF-8 when an encoding choice is available. - Reopen the file and check important passages and tables.
For structured extraction, URL to Markdown returns a different output: a reusable Markdown file. MDisBetter requires an account and available credits. Plain text is a valid choice when you only need the words.
Choose the output you need
| Goal | Output | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Keep readable words | .txt | Copy selected text or reading-view content |
| Keep headings and link destinations | .md | Markdown conversion |
| Keep a printable layout | Browser Print | |
| Keep an offline webpage | HTML and assets | Browser save-page workflow |
1. Copy selected content
Select the article rather than the entire page to reduce navigation noise. Paste into a plain-text destination; rich-text editors can retain formatting. This is useful for a short page or a passage already visible in the browser.
Copying can include loaded comments if they are selected. It does not guarantee content in another tab or an unexpanded section. Keep the source URL in your notes. See copy-paste pitfalls when the result will be used with an assistant.
2. Use a browser reading view
Reading views simplify many articles, but not every page. Chrome's documented route is right-clicking a page and choosing Open in reading mode; see the current instructions. Other browsers have their own reading-view controls.
Copy the displayed text into your editor and save it. Check whether dates, captions or sidebars were omitted. Dashboards and interactive tables may need separate manual selection.
3. Print to PDF
Use Print and save as PDF for a printable record. This does not create plain text. A separate PDF extraction step can change columns and reading order; see PDF text extraction limits. Choose this route when layout matters more than a direct .txt download.
4. Convert saved HTML locally
With HTML you have downloaded and Pandoc installed:
pandoc -f html -t plain page.html -o article.txtThe html2text Python package emits Markdown-formatted text by default, despite its name. Renaming that output .txt does not remove its markup. Use an explicit plain-text output format when required.
A downloaded HTML file may lack content loaded later by JavaScript. Conversion cannot recover content absent from its input.
5. Save as Markdown
Create or sign in to your account, open the URL-to-text extractor (Markdown output), submit the page, inspect the result and download it. Conversions use credits. A hosted request does not inherit your browser's login session, and blocked or interactive content may be unavailable.
Verify what was captured
Compare the beginning, ending, dates and important tables with the source. Record omitted comments or expandable sections. Saving text preserves the text you captured, not a complete website. See saving content against link rot for broader preservation.