tools / pdf page tools / extract pdf bookmarks and table of contents

Extract PDF bookmarks and table of contents

Extract or infer PDF bookmarks, repair the hierarchy and destinations, then export a reviewed outline locally.
Runs locally in your browser. Enable JavaScript to use the interactive tool. The practical details remain available below.

What Extract PDF bookmarks and table of contents actually does

A PDF's sidebar bookmarks are structured data, but most readers make them awkward to copy or correct. This workbench extracts the complete hierarchy, clearly separates embedded bookmarks from inferred heading suggestions, previews every page destination, and keeps the outline editable before export.

How to use it

  • Drop in a PDF and choose embedded bookmarks, automatic fallback, or heading inference.
  • Preview destination pages and repair titles, levels, ordering, indentation, duplicates, and unresolved page numbers with undo and redo.
  • Copy or download Markdown, text, CSV, or JSON generated from the current reviewed outline.

Useful for

  • Reuse a book or manual's bookmark tree in documentation or a website.
  • Audit whether a long PDF has usable navigation and page destinations.
  • Draft a contents list for a born-digital report that has no embedded outline.

Limits worth knowing

  • Inferred entries use typography, not semantic understanding, and must be reviewed.
  • Scanned PDFs need OCR before headings can be inferred.
  • This version edits exported outline data; it does not write bookmarks or arbitrary PDF actions back into the source file.

Questions people ask

Are PDF bookmarks the same as a table of contents?

Bookmarks are the hierarchical links shown in a PDF reader's navigation pane. They often mirror a printed contents page, but the two can differ.

What happens when the PDF has no bookmarks?

Automatic mode can propose an outline from unusually large text. Every inferred result is labeled and includes a review warning.

Does this upload the document?

No. Bookmark and text-layer analysis happens locally in this browser tab.

Continue the workflow

Extract structured PDF textRebuild selectable text in reading order, correct it against the source page, and export Markdown, text, or JSON locally.PDF to MarkdownColumn-aware Markdown with headings, lists and pipe tables, editable before download.Split PDFReview every output group and page before building private, manifest-verified PDF parts.