PDF to Markdown – Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Tables

What is Document to Markdown?

Document to Markdown converts PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel files into clean Markdown an LLM or RAG pipeline can use: headings, paragraphs, lists and real Markdown tables. It can also split each document into heading-aware chunks ready for embedding.

• Formats: PDF (with a text layer), DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, HTML, CSV/TSV and TXT/MD. The format is detected from the file itself, so a wrong file extension is fine.
• Batch: upload files or paste direct file URLs, up to 1,000 files per run. Each file becomes one dataset row.
• No crawling: one URL is one file you point to. Private and internal network addresses are blocked.

Try it: leave the input empty and click Start. The Actor converts a built-in sample PDF so you can see the output. The demo run charges no pages (only the $0.001 start fee).

Bot info (user agent and behaviour): tools.plainwrenstudio.com/bots/doc-to-markdown/. Support: support@plainwrenstudio.com.

What do you get for each file?

• markdown: headings, paragraphs, lists and GFM tables.
  • Word, PowerPoint and Excel: tables are read from the file's own structure, so they keep their rows and columns. Excel shows raw numbers (0.5, not 50%) and merged cells once.
  • PDF: tables are rebuilt from the text layout (see Limits).
  • PowerPoint: one section per slide (## Slide 3: Pricing), plus speaker notes if you want them.
  • Excel: one section and table per sheet, dates as ISO dates (2026-01-15), and formula results rather than formulas (the formula text is shown if the file has no saved result). Other number formats come out raw (0.5, not 50%), and merged cells show the value once.
• chunks (optional): heading-aware chunks. You set the size and overlap. Tables are never cut mid-row; a big table is split by rows with the header repeated. Each chunk has its heading path, page range, character count and a token estimate.
• title, pages, billablePages, stats (characters, words, tables, chunks), warnings, and on failure a plain error with an errorCode.

Who is it for?

• 🧑‍💻 Developers building RAG or AI-agent pipelines who need tables and headings kept, through the Apify API, MCP or the REST API.
• 🔗 No-code automators (Make, n8n, Zapier through Apify's integrations) turning uploaded files into text for an LLM step.

How to convert documents to Markdown

1. Open the Input tab.
2. Add files under Upload files, or paste direct links under File URLs (one file per URL).
3. Optional: change Chunk size and Chunk overlap, turn Include RAG chunks or Include PowerPoint speaker notes off, or add Page markers.
4. Click Start.
5. Get results from the Output tab, or download them as JSON, CSV or Excel. You can also call the Actor through the Apify API, schedule it, or connect it to other tools with Apify integrations.

Input example

{
  "urls": ["https://example.com/report.pdf"],
  "includeChunks": true,
  "chunkSize": 2000,
  "chunkOverlap": 200,
  "pageMarkers": false,
  "includeSpeakerNotes": true,
  "maxPagesPerFile": 500,
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50,
  "maxRowsPerSheet": 10000
}

Field	Type	What it does
files	array	Files you upload. Each becomes one row.
urls	array of strings	Direct links to files, one file per URL. Leave both files and urls empty for a demo run (no pages charged, only the $0.001 start fee).
includeChunks	boolean (default true)	Also return heading-aware chunks for RAG.
chunkSize	integer (default 2000)	Target maximum characters per chunk (about 4 characters per token).
chunkOverlap	integer (default 200)	Characters repeated from the previous chunk (not applied to tables).
pageMarkers	boolean (default false)	Add <!-- page N --> comments at each PDF page, slide or sheet.
includeSpeakerNotes	boolean (default true)	Include PowerPoint speaker notes.
maxPagesPerFile	integer (default 500, max 5000)	Stop after this many PDF pages, slides or sheets per file. You only pay for pages converted.
maxFileSizeMb	integer (default 50, max 200)	Largest file accepted.
maxRowsPerSheet	integer (default 10000)	Rows kept per Excel sheet or CSV file. Extra rows are cut and a warning is added.
pdfPassword	secret string	Only for password-protected PDFs.

Output example

This is the real output for our 2-page sample PDF (the markdown field, shown as Markdown):

# Quarterly Report

# Summary

Revenue grew in every region this quarter. The table below lists units and prices for each product line.

| Product | Units | Price |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Widget | 120 | 4.50 |
| Gadget | 75 | 12.00 |
| Doohickey | 9 | 99.99 |

The same dataset row also has (shortened):

{"index":0,"filename":"report.pdf","ok":true,"format":"pdf","title":"Quarterly Report","pages":2,"billablePages":2,
 "chunks":[{"index":0,"headings":["Summary"],"pageStart":1,"pageEnd":1,"chars":290,"tokensEstimate":73}],
 "stats":{"chars":503,"words":66,"tables":2,"chunks":2},"warnings":[],"error":null,"errorCode":null}

Word tables keep special characters safe. A cell containing a pipe comes out escaped: | Design \| icons | Design | $120 |

Excel sheets keep computed values, including the totals row: | North | 120 | 540.5 | 2026-01-15 | … | Total | 204 | 2340.41 | |

A scanned PDF comes back as a free failure row: {"ok":false,"errorCode":"NO_TEXT","error":"No extractable text: the PDF looks scanned/image-only (OCR is not supported in this version)","billablePages":0}

Output field	Meaning
ok	true if the file was converted.
format	Detected format (pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx, html, csv, txt).
markdown	The converted document.
chunks	RAG chunks, if turned on.
title	Document title, when the file has one.
pages	PDF pages, slides or sheets converted (empty for Word, HTML, CSV and text).
billablePages	Pages you're charged for (see pricing).
stats	Characters, words, tables and chunks.
warnings	Notes such as rows cut by maxRowsPerSheet.
error / errorCode	Plain reason and code when ok is false.

A run summary is saved in the key-value store under OUTPUT: { files, ok, failed, pagesCharged, stoppedAtLimit }.

How much does it cost to convert documents to Markdown?

Document to Markdown uses pay-per-event pricing, so you pay for pages converted:

• $0.002 per page (page-converted): $2.00 per 1,000 pages.
  • A page is one PDF page or one PowerPoint slide.
  • For Word, HTML and text files, a page is every 3,000 characters of Markdown output (minimum 1 per file).
  • Excel, CSV and TSV files are also counted per 3,000 characters, but never more than 25 pages per file ($0.05), however many rows they have.
• Failed files are free. The demo run charges no pages (only the $0.001 start fee).
• A small Actor start fee of $0.001 per run at the default 1 GB memory. Apify charges it per GB, so a 4 GB run pays $0.004.

Examples:

• A 10-page PDF: 10 × $0.002 + $0.001 = $0.021.
• A 100-slide deck: $0.201.
• A 50,000-row, 8-column spreadsheet: 1,162 pages by size, capped at 25 = $0.051 (by default only the first 10,000 rows are converted; set Max rows per sheet to 50,000 to convert every row; the price is still $0.051).

Apify's free plan includes monthly platform credit you can use to try it.

Limits

• No OCR. Scanned or image-only PDFs come back as "no extractable text" (NO_TEXT) and aren't charged. It works on PDFs that have a text layer.
• PDF tables are rebuilt from text alignment. Very complex or borderless tables with multi-line cells can come out imperfect. Word and PowerPoint tables are exact. Excel shows raw numbers (0.5, not 50%) and merged cells once.
• PDF details: headers, footers and page numbers stay in the text; bold and italic aren't marked; a paragraph that crosses a page break is split in two.
• Not supported: legacy .doc/.xls/.ppt, RTF, OpenDocument, EPUB and image files.
• Size limits: 50 MB per file by default (up to 200 MB), 500 pages per file by default (up to 5,000), 10,000 rows per sheet by default, 1,000 files per run.

FAQ

Can it read scanned PDFs?

No. It has no OCR. A scanned or image-only PDF returns "no extractable text" and you aren't charged for it.

Are tables kept?

Yes. Word, PowerPoint and Excel tables are read from the file's structure, so rows and columns are kept. Excel shows raw numbers (0.5, not 50%) and merged cells once. PDF tables are rebuilt from the text layout, which works well on simple tables but can be imperfect on complex or borderless ones.

Am I charged for files that fail?

No. Failed files are free. The demo run charges no pages (only the $0.001 start fee).

How are Word, Excel, HTML, CSV and text files counted?

They have no fixed pages, so every 3,000 characters of Markdown output counts as one page, with a minimum of 1 per file. Excel, CSV and TSV files are capped at 25 pages each.

Does it crawl websites?

No. Each URL must point to one file, and the Actor downloads only that file. Private and internal network addresses are blocked.

What do I get from PowerPoint and Excel files?

PowerPoint: one section per slide with its title, plus speaker notes. Excel: one section and table per sheet, with dates as ISO dates and formula results (the formula text is shown if the file has no saved result). Other number formats come out raw (0.5, not 50%), and merged cells show the value once.

Can I use it from Make, n8n, Zapier or an AI agent?

Yes, through Apify's integrations, API and MCP, the same way as any other Apify Actor.

Something looks wrong. What should I do?

Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab (remove anything private) or email support@plainwrenstudio.com.