How to Remove Line Breaks From Text Copied From a PDF
Copy a paragraph from a PDF into an email or document and it arrives chopped into short lines. Fixing it by hand means deleting dozens of breaks one by one. There's a faster way.
Why it happens
A PDF stores text the way it's printed: line by line, at fixed positions. It doesn't really know where paragraphs are, so when you copy, each line ends with a line break.
Fix it in three steps
- Paste the text into Remove Line Breaks.
- Keep Keep paragraphs (blank lines) on: breaks inside a paragraph are joined, while blank lines between paragraphs are preserved.
- Copy the result.
Options also remove extra spaces and trim the start and end of the text.
Other handy uses
- List to comma-separated line: replace line breaks with a comma to turn a column of email addresses or IDs into
a, b, cfor a spreadsheet, SQL query or "To:" field. - Fixing subtitles or chat exports where every sentence is on its own line.
- Languages without spaces (Chinese, Japanese): replace breaks with nothing so no stray spaces appear.
When not to use it
Don't run it on code, poetry, addresses or tables — there the line breaks carry meaning. After cleaning, the word counter gives an accurate count of paragraphs and words.
Try the free tool
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