Paste the Markdown on the left and read the cleaned text on the right — it happens as you type, no button needed. A line like `## Quarterly results` comes out as `Quarterly results`, and `**deadline Friday**` comes out as `deadline Friday`. The tool walks heading hashes (one to six #), bold (`**` or `__`), italic (`*` or `_`) and strikethrough (`~~`) and drops just the symbols while keeping every word and your line breaks. Snake_case like `user_id` is left alone so code-ish text survives.

When I strip a link, do I keep the words or the web address?

Your call — the Links option has two settings. 'Text only' (the default) turns `[our pricing page](https://toolora.com/pricing)` into `our pricing page`, which reads naturally in an email or a document. 'Text (url)' turns it into `our pricing page (https://toolora.com/pricing)` so the destination is still there for a printout or a reference list. Bare autolinks like ` ` always collapse to the plain address.

What happens to code blocks and inline code?

Inline code such as `` `git rebase -i` `` loses its backticks but keeps `git rebase -i` intact, and a `#` or `*` inside that code is never mistaken for formatting because code is pulled out before anything else runs. For fenced blocks (the ``` ``` kind) you pick: 'Keep text' leaves the code lines exactly as written, 'Remove' deletes the whole block. Handy when you want the prose from a README but not the snippets.

How is this different from a Markdown to HTML converter?

Markdown to HTML adds tags — `# Hi` becomes ` Hi ` — so it is for rendering on a web page. This tool does the opposite: it removes every mark and gives you raw words with nothing to render, the kind of text you would paste into a plain email, a notes field, a CMS that rejects formatting, or a screen reader script. If you want the rendered look use markdown-to-html; if you want stripped words use this.

Why convert to plain text before pasting into Word or an email?

Pasting raw Markdown into Word or Gmail leaves the literal `#`, `**` and `[ ]( )` symbols sitting in your text, which looks broken. Running it through here first gives clean prose that drops straight in. Example: a `- ` shopping list becomes plain lines (or keeps a `•` bullet if you flip the List option), and a table becomes aligned columns instead of a wall of pipe characters.

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. The entire conversion is plain JavaScript that runs in your browser tab — there is no server call and nothing is logged. The one thing to know: the shareable link encodes your input in the URL, so a link pasted into chat will record that text in the recipient server's log. For anything confidential, use the Copy button instead of sharing the URL, and clear the box when you are done.

Paste clean text into an email or Word without broken symbols

You drafted release notes in a Markdown editor, but pasting them into Gmail or Word drops literal `#`, `**` and `[ ]( )` symbols into the body. Run the source through here, copy the plain text, and paste — headings read as plain lines, links read as their words, and the bullets either disappear or keep a clean `•`. No more hand-deleting asterisks one at a time before you hit send.

Feed a notes field or CMS that rejects formatting

Plenty of tools — a CRM note, a help-desk ticket, an old CMS field, an app store description box — accept only plain text and show your Markdown symbols raw. Strip the formatting first and the words land clean. The List and Table options let you decide whether structure survives as bullets and aligned columns or flattens entirely.

Get a clean word count from a Markdown document

Counting words on raw Markdown inflates the number with `#`, `*` and URL strings that no reader sees. Convert to plain text first and the live word and character count reflects what actually gets read — useful for hitting an abstract limit, a meta-description budget, or a word target for an assignment.

Prepare a script for text-to-speech or a screen reader

A screen reader or TTS engine reading raw Markdown will say "hashtag", "asterisk asterisk" and spell out URLs. Stripping the formatting — and choosing 'Text only' so links read as their words, plus removing images so alt text does not interrupt — gives a clean script that sounds like prose, not punctuation.

Markdown to Plain Text Converter — Strip Formatting

Strip Markdown to clean plain text — headings, bold, links, code, lists, tables, HTML all flattened — browser-only

Runs locally
Category Text
Best for Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.

Strip Markdown down to clean, readable plain text. Headings lose their #, **bold** and *italic* lose their marks, links keep the words (or the URL too, your call), and code, lists, quotes, tables and stray HTML are flattened. Everything runs in this tab.

Links

Images

List markers

Code blocks

Tables

Markdown

Plain text26 words · 167 chars

Meeting notes

We shipped v2 with a new dashboard.

Faster load
Dark mode
keyboard shortcuts

Thanks to the whole team.

Metric   Before   After
Load     2.1s     0.8s

What this tool does

Free Markdown to plain text converter that strips every formatting mark and leaves the readable words behind. Headings drop their #, **bold** and *italic* and ~~strikethrough~~ lose their symbols, links keep their text (or the URL too, your choice), images become alt text or vanish, inline `code` loses its backticks, fenced blocks keep their contents or get removed, list bullets and numbers go away, blockquote > markers go away, horizontal rules disappear, tables collapse into aligned columns or plain rows, and any raw HTML tags and entities are cleaned out. It runs as a pure string pass in your browser, so a stray `**bold` or a half-typed link never breaks it and nothing you paste leaves the tab. Type or paste on the left, copy clean text on the right, with a word and character count and a shareable URL that reopens your input. 100% client-side, no upload, no sign-in.

Tool details

Input: Text + Numbers + Structured content; The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
Output: Live result + Copy; The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
Privacy: Browser-side processing; The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
Save / share: Shareable URL state; Key settings are encoded in the URL so another person can reopen the same setup.
Performance budget: Initial JS <= 9 KB; No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
Best fit: Text · Content Creator; Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.

How to use

1. Input

Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
2. Process

Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
3. Copy / Download

Copy the result or download to disk in one click.

How Markdown to Plain Text fits into your work

Use it to clean, compare, reshape, or extract plain text before it goes into a document, CMS, spreadsheet, or prompt.

Text jobs

Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.
Making text easier to compare, paste, publish, or feed into another tool.
Working with content locally when the text is private or unfinished.

Text checks

Scan for unintended whitespace, duplicate lines, and lost punctuation.
For long text, test the first few lines before applying the whole change.
Copy the final output only after checking the preview.

Good next steps

These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.

Real-world use cases

Paste clean text into an email or Word without broken symbols
You drafted release notes in a Markdown editor, but pasting them into Gmail or Word drops literal `#`, `**` and `[ ]( )` symbols into the body. Run the source through here, copy the plain text, and paste — headings read as plain lines, links read as their words, and the bullets either disappear or keep a clean `•`. No more hand-deleting asterisks one at a time before you hit send.
Feed a notes field or CMS that rejects formatting
Plenty of tools — a CRM note, a help-desk ticket, an old CMS field, an app store description box — accept only plain text and show your Markdown symbols raw. Strip the formatting first and the words land clean. The List and Table options let you decide whether structure survives as bullets and aligned columns or flattens entirely.
Get a clean word count from a Markdown document
Counting words on raw Markdown inflates the number with `#`, `*` and URL strings that no reader sees. Convert to plain text first and the live word and character count reflects what actually gets read — useful for hitting an abstract limit, a meta-description budget, or a word target for an assignment.
Prepare a script for text-to-speech or a screen reader
A screen reader or TTS engine reading raw Markdown will say "hashtag", "asterisk asterisk" and spell out URLs. Stripping the formatting — and choosing 'Text only' so links read as their words, plus removing images so alt text does not interrupt — gives a clean script that sounds like prose, not punctuation.

Common pitfalls

Expecting it to render the Markdown. This tool removes formatting, it does not display it. If you wanted `# Hi` to look like a big heading you need markdown-to-html instead — here it just becomes the word "Hi".
Losing link destinations you needed. The default keeps only the link text, so a URL you wanted for reference is gone. Switch the Links option to "Text (url)" before converting if the addresses matter.
Forgetting code blocks default to kept. If you only want the prose from a README, flip Code blocks to "Remove" — otherwise every fenced snippet comes through in the plain text and pads your word count.

Privacy

Every transformation — stripping hashes, unwrapping links, pulling out code, flattening tables, decoding HTML entities — is plain JavaScript that runs inside your browser tab. Your Markdown is never uploaded and nothing is logged. The single caveat: the shareable link encodes your input in the query string, so a link pasted into chat or email will record that text in the recipient server's access log. For confidential content, use the Copy button to grab the plain text rather than sharing the URL, and clear the input box when you finish.

FAQ

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Markdown to Plain Text Converter — Strip Formatting

What this tool does

Tool details

How to use

1. Input

2. Process

3. Copy / Download

How Markdown to Plain Text fits into your work

Text jobs

Text checks

Good next steps

Real-world use cases

Paste clean text into an email or Word without broken symbols

Feed a notes field or CMS that rejects formatting

Get a clean word count from a Markdown document

Prepare a script for text-to-speech or a screen reader

Common pitfalls

Privacy

FAQ

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