Convert HTML to Plain Text in Python

To convert HTML to text in Python, pass an HTML file, HTML string, HTMLDocument, or Url to Converter.convert_html() with TextSaveOptions and a .txt output path.

Aspose.HTML for Python via .NET converts an HTML document to plain text without HTML tags or CSS presentation. Use this workflow when the complete document should become a TXT file. To collect text from selected elements, exclude navigation, or process separate content blocks, use the DOM-based text extraction workflow instead.

Convert HTML to Text in Python

To convert an HTML source to TXT:

1. Specify the HTML file, string, document, or URL to convert.
2. Create a TextSaveOptions object.
3. Call Converter.convert_html() with the source, options, and TXT output path.

Convert an HTML File to TXT

The following example converts extract-text-article.html to a text file. It uses the file-path overload, so the source does not need to be loaded into an HTMLDocument first:

import os
import aspose.html.converters as conv
import aspose.html.saving as sav

data_dir = "data"
output_dir = "output"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)

input_path = os.path.join(data_dir, "extract-text-article.html")
output_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "article.txt")

options = sav.TextSaveOptions()
conv.Converter.convert_html(input_path, options, output_path)

The resulting article.txt contains the document’s textual content without elements such as <main>, <h1>, or <p>. Paragraphs and other block-level content are separated in the text output.

Convert an HTML String and Keep List Markers

Set enable_list_item_markers to True when list items in the TXT output should retain a marker. The string overload also requires a base URI, which identifies the location used to resolve any relative references in the HTML. This self-contained example uses the current working directory:

import os
import aspose.html.converters as conv
import aspose.html.saving as sav

output_dir = "output"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
output_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "checklist.txt")

html_code = """
<h1>Release Checklist</h1>
<ul>
    <li>Review the document.</li>
    <li>Verify the output.</li>
</ul>
"""

options = sav.TextSaveOptions()
options.enable_list_item_markers = True

conv.Converter.convert_html(
    html_code,
    os.getcwd() + os.sep,
    options,
    output_path,
)

The generated TXT file contains the heading and both list items. With list markers enabled, each list item is preceded by a marker instead of being written as unmarked text.

Convert a Webpage URL to Text

Use a Url object when the source HTML should be loaded directly from a website:

import os
import aspose.html as ah
import aspose.html.converters as conv
import aspose.html.saving as sav

output_dir = "output"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
output_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "webpage.txt")

page_url = ah.Url("https://docs.aspose.com/html/files/aspose.html")
options = sav.TextSaveOptions()

conv.Converter.convert_html(page_url, options, output_path)

The application must have network access to the URL. This workflow converts the complete loaded document; it does not isolate the main article from navigation, banners, or footer content.

Configure Text Output with TextSaveOptions

TextSaveOptions represents the settings for HTML-to-text conversion. Its text-specific property controls whether list markers are included:

Property	Use it to control
enable_list_item_markers	Whether markers are written before list items. The default value is False.

TXT output does not preserve fonts, colors, borders, images, or page layout because a plain-text file has no equivalent representation for visual styling.

TextSaveOptions vs. text_content

Both approaches produce text, but they solve different tasks:

Requirement	Recommended approach
Convert a complete HTML file, string, document, or URL directly to TXT	Converter.convert_html() with TextSaveOptions
Keep list markers in converted text	Set TextSaveOptions.enable_list_item_markers to True
Extract text only from main, article, or selected elements	Select the elements and read text_content
Exclude navigation, footer, or other page regions	Use CSS selectors or XPath before collecting text
Read attributes such as href, src, or custom data values	Use DOM methods such as get_attribute()

text_content returns the text nodes contained by the selected DOM element. It gives the application control over what is collected, but Python code must write the resulting string to a TXT file. TextSaveOptions performs complete document-to-text conversion and writes the output through the Converter API.

Common HTML to Text Conversion Issues

Problem	Cause and solution
List items have no markers	Markers are disabled by default. Set enable_list_item_markers to True.
Navigation and footer text appear in the output	TextSaveOptions converts the complete document. Use DOM selectors and text_content when only a content region is required.
The TXT file does not look like the webpage	Plain text does not support HTML layout, CSS formatting, images, or fonts. Use PDF or an image format when visual appearance must be preserved.
The output contains more line breaks than expected	HTML blocks are separated in the text output. Normalize the generated text afterward when another whitespace convention is required.
URL conversion fails	Confirm that the address is accessible from the application environment and does not require unsupported authentication or interaction.

FAQ

Does HTML-to-text conversion remove HTML tags?

Yes. The generated TXT file contains textual content rather than serialized HTML markup. Use HTMLDocument.save() when the markup must remain HTML.

What is the difference between HTML to TXT and HTML to Markdown?

TXT contains plain text without markup for headings, links, emphasis, or tables. Markdown retains supported document structure through Markdown syntax. Use HTML to Markdown conversion when that structure is required.

Can I convert a webpage URL to a TXT file?

Yes. Pass an absolute Url and TextSaveOptions to Converter.convert_html(). The result contains text from the complete loaded document. Use DOM extraction when only selected webpage content is required.

Related Articles

• HTML Converter – choose another supported output format for an HTML source.
• Extract Text from HTML – extract complete or selected DOM text and control which page regions are included.
• Convert HTML to Markdown – preserve supported headings, lists, links, tables, and other structure as Markdown syntax.
• HTML Navigation – navigate the DOM and select elements with CSS selectors or XPath.