I regularly need to copy and paste phone numbers from pdfs. When I try using iOS 26.2 it just selects all the text in the document. I have tried using a double tap-it just resizes the view of the document.
iPhone 17 Pro
Not all PDF files allow text to be selected, copied, or pasted. This is often because the PDF’s creator has applied restrictions or security settings that disable text extraction. In some cases, the PDF may simply be a scanned image rather than actual text, which also prevents copying.
If you need to copy or edit the content, try opening the file in Adobe Acrobat and checking whether permissions allow editing or text recognition (OCR). If the restrictions are enforced, the best option is to contact the sender or the original creator of the PDF and request an editable or unrestricted version.
Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the required section and open it in the iPhone Photos app (or Preview on a Mac). Using Live Text, iOS/macOS can recognize and extract text from the image, allowing you to copy just the part you need.
In short: when copy-paste fails, screenshots plus Live Text often save the day.
Not all PDF files allow text to be selected, copied, or pasted. This is often because the PDF’s creator has applied restrictions or security settings that disable text extraction. In some cases, the PDF may simply be a scanned image rather than actual text, which also prevents copying.
If you need to copy or edit the content, try opening the file in Adobe Acrobat and checking whether permissions allow editing or text recognition (OCR). If the restrictions are enforced, the best option is to contact the sender or the original creator of the PDF and request an editable or unrestricted version.
Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the required section and open it in the iPhone Photos app (or Preview on a Mac). Using Live Text, iOS/macOS can recognize and extract text from the image, allowing you to copy just the part you need.
In short: when copy-paste fails, screenshots plus Live Text often save the day.
Tap and hold would be the normal word pick action
john-pierre wrote:
No. It opens in Preview. As the other contributor states it maybe how the pdf was formatted although it does select text within the document I just don’t have any control over how much. I have tried it with my iPhone 17 pro and my iPad and my colleague tried with an older iPhone model with the same result. All are running iOS 26.2.
Yes I would suspect the pdf. Does it allow you to select any single word? If not then it has been made that way, possibly for security or to prevent plagiarism.
No. It opens in Preview. As the other contributor states it maybe how the pdf was formatted although it does select text within the document I just don’t have any control over how much. I have tried it with my iPhone 17 pro and my iPad and my colleague tried with an older iPhone model with the same result. All are running iOS 26.2.
I should have been clearer-when I tap and hold it selects all the text in the document. I could drag the selector up but these documents are five pages long!
Isn't a problem for me. Do you have a third party pdf reader installed?
Cannot select phone numbers from PDFs on iOS 26.2
