How to Get Only Plain Text from a Webpage: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you tired of copying and pasting webpage content only to find it littered with unnecessary HTML tags and formatting? Do you need a way to extract only the plain text from a webpage to use in a report, document, or spreadsheet? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll show you how to get only plain text from a webpage using various methods and tools.

The Problem with Copying and Pasting Webpage Content

When you copy and paste content from a webpage, you’re not just copying the text; you’re also copying the underlying HTML code, CSS styles, and JavaScript scripts. This can lead to a mess of unwanted code and formatting in your document or spreadsheet.

For example, let’s say you want to copy a paragraph from a webpage and paste it into a Word document. Here’s what you might get:

<p>This is a paragraph of text from a webpage.</p>

As you can see, the HTML code is included in the paste, which can be frustrating and time-consuming to clean up.

Method 1: Using the Browser’s Built-In Functionality

Most modern web browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, offer a built-in feature to copy only the plain text from a webpage.

1. Highlight the text you want to copy on the webpage.
2. Right-click on the highlighted text and select “Copy” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac).
3. Open your desired document or spreadsheet and place your cursor where you want to paste the text.
4. Right-click and select “Paste Special” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+V (Windows) or Command+Option+V (Mac).
5. In the Paste Special dialog box, select “Unformatted Text” or “Plain Text” and click OK.

This method works well for small amounts of text, but it can be tedious and time-consuming for larger blocks of content.

Method 2: Using an Online Text Extractor Tool

There are several online tools available that can extract plain text from a webpage. These tools are often quick and easy to use, and they can handle large amounts of content.

One popular online tool is Small SEO Tools’ HTML to Plain Text Converter. Here’s how to use it:

1. Copy the URL of the webpage you want to extract text from.
2. Paste the URL into the input field on the Small SEO Tools website.
3. Click the “Convert” button.
4. The tool will extract the plain text from the webpage and display it in the output field.
5. Copy the plain text and paste it into your desired document or spreadsheet.

This method is convenient, but it may not work well with webpages that use a lot of JavaScript or other dynamic content.

Method 3: Using a Browser Extension

Browser extensions like Plain Text Copier for Google Chrome or Plain Text Copier for Mozilla Firefox can simplify the process of copying plain text from a webpage.

Here’s how to use the Plain Text Copier extension:

1. Install the Plain Text Copier extension from the Chrome Web Store or Mozilla Add-ons repository.
2. Highlight the text you want to copy on the webpage.
3. Right-click on the highlighted text and select “Copy as plain text” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+C (Windows) or Command+Shift+C (Mac).
4. Open your desired document or spreadsheet and paste the plain text.

This method is quick and easy, and it works well for both small and large blocks of content.

Method 4: Using a Programming Language

If you’re comfortable with programming, you can use a language like Python or JavaScript to extract plain text from a webpage.

Here’s an example using Python and the requests and BeautifulSoup libraries:

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

url = "https://www.example.com"
response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')

plain_text = soup.get_text()

print(plain_text)

This code sends an HTTP request to the specified URL, parses the HTML response using BeautifulSoup, and extracts the plain text using the get_text() method.

You can save the plain text to a file or use it in a script to automate tasks.

Method 5: Using a Desktop Application

Desktop applications like Readability or Calibre can also extract plain text from a webpage.

Here’s how to use Readability:

1. Download and install Readability from the official website.
2. Copy the URL of the webpage you want to extract text from.
3. Open Readability and click the “Add Article” button.
4. Paste the URL into the input field and click “Add.”
5. Readability will extract the plain text from the webpage and display it in a clean, readable format.
6. Copy the plain text and paste it into your desired document or spreadsheet.

This method is useful for reading and extracting text from webpages, and it can also help you save articles for offline reading.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve shown you five methods to get only plain text from a webpage. Whether you’re working with a small amount of text or a large block of content, there’s a method that’s right for you.

Remember to choose the method that best fits your needs, and don’t be afraid to try out different tools and techniques to find what works best for you.

By following these methods, you’ll be able to extract plain text from webpages with ease and make the most of the content you need.

Method	Pros	Cons
Browser’s Built-In Functionality	Convenient, easy to use	Time-consuming for large blocks of content
Online Text Extractor Tool	Quick, easy to use, handles large amounts of content	May not work well with dynamic content, security risks
Browser Extension	Quick, easy to use, convenient	Limited customization options
Programming Language	Highly customizable, automatable	Requires programming knowledge, time-consuming to set up
Desktop Application	Convenient, easy to use, handles large amounts of content	May have limited features, requires installation

We hope this guide has been helpful in showing you how to get only plain text from a webpage. Happy extracting!

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