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MarkItDown

Converts Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDFs and more into clean text that AI tools can read.

Widely used

What it does

MarkItDown, from Microsoft, takes everyday files (Word documents, slides, spreadsheets, PDFs, even images and audio) and turns them into simple, tidy text called Markdown.

That matters because AI assistants work best with clean text. Converting files first means the AI can read and understand your documents much more reliably.

It's a small, focused tool that has become very popular as a first step in AI document workflows.

Who it's for

Anyone feeding documents into AI tools, and developers building document workflows.

Can I use it without coding?

With some setup. Installed with Python and run with one command. New to this? Start here.

Can I run it?

Cost
FreeNothing to pay or sign up for.
Computer
An ordinary computer is fine
Privacy
Your choice: run it on your device or use an online service
API key
Not needed

Try it

  1. Install Python 3.10 or newer on your computer.
  2. Install MarkItDown using Python's package installer.
  3. Point it at a file, such as a PDF or Word document, to get a clean text version.

Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?

Before you install

  • Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
  • License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
  • More on staying safe

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