How to export reMarkable highlights as text

reMarkable has no official way to export your highlights as text. That holds up to software 3.29 from October 2026, the newest version in the release notes on 15 November 2026. The official exports give you a PDF, PNG or SVG with the highlights drawn on the pages. For the words themselves you need a third-party tool: RCU, a paid desktop app, or an Obsidian plugin such as Tagged Sync or Scrybble. In the files I examined, only highlights made with snap turned on stored their text. Without snap, a tool has to recover the words another way.

Last checked on 15 November 2026 against reMarkable's help pages and the release notes up to 3.29.

Exporting highlights with reMarkable's own features

Export as PDF, PNG or SVG. In the desktop app you right-click a file and pick the format. From the tablet you can send a file by email in the same formats, or export it to Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, which per the Integrations help page gives you a PDF. Your highlights show on the pages. Whether they become part of the page image or stay separate annotations you can copy as text, I have not checked with an exported file yet.

Plain text by email. The help page offers "Text in email" only if "the document only contains typed text", that is typed or converted text and nothing else. A highlighted PDF or EPUB is not a typed document, so do not expect your highlights there.

Selecting text, new in 3.29. According to the release notes, you can now select text in PDFs and EPUBs and paste it into other tools. The release notes head this entry "Copy text from PDFs with the apps". Whether it also works on the tablet, they do not say. Either way you pick each passage by hand. The release notes say nothing about collecting your highlights.

USB web interface. Connect the tablet by cable, turn on Settings > General settings > Storage > USB web interface and open 10.11.99.1 in a browser. From there you can download files. Third-party guides say that since software 3.10 you can also download a file as .rmdoc. That is the document in reMarkable's own format, not a list of highlights.

How snap affects the highlighted text in the file

Since software 2.7 (May 2021) the highlighter snaps to the text. Since 3.4 (May 2023) the release notes say you can turn that off.

In the files I examined, EPUB books from a reMarkable Paper Pro on software 3.x, a snap highlight stores the highlighted text. Highlighter strokes that did not snap were stored like pen strokes: a line with a color and no text. I have not yet checked a whole line highlighted with snap turned off. Underlining with the pen, circling and handwriting are strokes too. I expect PDFs with a text layer to behave the same, but I have not checked a PDF file yet.

So check that snap is on for the highlighter before you start your next book.

Highlights you already made without snap stay strokes. A tool then has to work out the words from where the stroke sits on the page, or use text recognition. A scanned PDF has no text layer. I expect nothing to snap to there and no text in its highlights.

Ways to export reMarkable highlights, compared

Features, prices and versions as each tool's own page or the Obsidian plugin directory describes them, checked on 15 November 2026. I have not tested the tools.

Tagged Sync Pro adds a direct sync with the tablet. Its page says: "reMarkable Paper Pro and Paper Pure … These devices only allow the connection in Developer Mode, and turning Developer Mode on erases the tablet." RCU's manual says the same for these models, see the table.

The Obsidian plugin reMarkable Sync (version 1.0.8) brings Paper Pro documents into Obsidian as PDFs with embedded annotations. Its listing says nothing about highlights as text.

I also found mentions of rmc, Distillate, markInk and Slate Drive. I have not looked at them closely enough to compare them, so they are not in the table.

Which export route fits you

• You want a copy with your highlights visible. Use the official PDF export. It is free and needs nothing else.
• You need a few passages as text today. Use the text selection from 3.29 in the apps and paste each passage.
• You want every snap highlight of a document in one text file, offline. Per its page, RCU does this over USB or Wi-Fi without the cloud. On a Paper Pro, Paper Pro Move or Paper Pure it needs developer mode first, and per its manual entering or leaving developer mode resets the tablet. Its compatibility list ended at 3.28.0.172 when I checked, so look for your version before you buy.
• You keep your notes in Obsidian. Tagged Sync has a free core and, per its page, brings highlights in as whole sentences. Scrybble is a subscription with a 30-day trial. obsidian-remarkable-sync is free; it can also import local .rmdoc files without the cloud. Its README says this gives page images, but its code treats these files like files from the cloud, so with the highlights note turned on your snap highlights should come through as text as well. I have not tried that. Tagged Sync and the cloud mode of obsidian-remarkable-sync use your reMarkable cloud account, and per the README of its server code so does Scrybble. Without a Connect subscription, reMarkable's help page says only files used and synced online in the last 50 days stay in the cloud, so ways through the cloud do not see older documents.
• You are still on software 2.x and know Python. remarks is free and covers PDFs, EPUBs and notebooks. For 3.x its own page says it does not work yet.
• You highlight in pink, in PDFs. ReMarkableHighlightExtractor works from the color on the page image, not from stored text, so snap should not matter for it. It handles pink only.
• Your highlights were made without snap, or the PDF is a scan. Tagged Sync says it picks up text you underline or circle with the pen. For scanned PDFs its page says pen marks are not recognized. Beyond that, text recognition on the page image is the route that remains.

What the file stores for highlights and notes

This comes from files I examined: EPUB books from a reMarkable Paper Pro on software 3.x, checked against the open-source parser rmscene. Two points come from the code of open-source tools rather than from my files; they say so. As far as I know, reMarkable does not publish the format. Other models and versions may differ.

• Each page with marks has its own .rm file inside the document. According to the code of open-source tools, software 2.x stored snap highlights in separate JSON files instead. A tool written for 2.x has to be adapted for 3.x files.
• A snap highlight is a text item. It carries the highlighted characters, the color and one rectangle per line.
• A highlighter stroke without snap, a pen line or handwriting is a stroke item: points, tool and color, but no text.
• Typed text is stored as a text item, according to rmscene. None of my files contained any. That fits the help page, which offers plain-text email only for purely typed documents.
• Tags on pages and documents sit in the document's content file, not in the page files.
• The stored text is not always clean. Where a highlight crossed a line break, the space or hyphen there was often missing, so two words ran together. One stroke could also arrive as several pieces, split at line ends, sometimes with a line repeated. Tools differ in how much of this they tidy up.

Exporting notes and handwriting

Handwriting is stored as strokes, not as text. reMarkable has converted handwriting to typed text since software 1.6 (October 2018). Since 3.7 you can convert selected words or sentences on the tablet with the selection tool, and since 3.10 the desktop app converts handwriting for Connect subscribers. Notebooks export like any other file: as PDF, PNG or SVG by email from the tablet or from the desktop app, and as PDF to a cloud drive.

FAQ

How can I extract all highlighted text from a PDF?

reMarkable has no function for it as of 3.29. RCU exports snap highlights to a text file. Tagged Sync, Scrybble and obsidian-remarkable-sync bring highlights into Obsidian. On software 2.x, remarks does it for free.

Can highlighted text be copied automatically?

Not with reMarkable's own functions as of 3.29. The Obsidian plugins in the table bring highlights into Obsidian without exporting files by hand. They need Obsidian. Tagged Sync and the cloud mode of obsidian-remarkable-sync use the reMarkable cloud, and per the README of its server code so does Scrybble. Without a Connect subscription the cloud keeps only files used and synced in the last 50 days. RCU has no background sync, but its command line can be scripted.

Can the reMarkable export handwritten notes and highlighted text?

Handwriting, yes: reMarkable has converted it to typed text since software 1.6, on the tablet for selected words since 3.7 and, with a Connect subscription, in the desktop app since 3.10. Highlighted text, not officially. For that you need one of the tools above. Tagged Sync says it handles both.

How do I copy only the highlighted text?

Since 3.29 you can select text in PDFs and EPUBs in the apps and paste it, one passage at a time. To get only the highlighted parts in one go, you need one of the tools above.

Is RCU free?

No. RCU costs 12 USD as of 15 November 2026, with 365 days of updates and email support. Its source code is published under the AGPLv3. On a Paper Pro, Paper Pro Move or Paper Pure it needs developer mode, which per its manual resets the tablet.

Does this work for EPUB books?

For snap highlights, yes. The files I examined were EPUB books, and their snap highlights stored the text. The 3.29 text selection covers PDFs and EPUBs. remarks lists EPUB support, for software 2.x. Whether RCU's text export handles EPUBs, I have not tested. How to get EPUB books onto the tablet is in my guide to EPUB on the reMarkable.

Is there something like Kindle's My Clippings.txt?

No. As of 3.29, reMarkable offers no export that collects your highlights into one text file. The nearest thing I found is RCU's export of snap highlights to text.

Who writes this page

I am building Marky, a service meant for every e-ink tablet, starting with the reMarkable. It should bring your highlights back from the tablet by itself, as whole sentences, without a desktop app running. On the reMarkable it works through an unofficial interface of the reMarkable cloud. Marky is not open yet and has no price or start date. If one of the tools above already does what you need, use it.

If you want to hear when you can try Marky, leave your email address on the waitlist.

This page is independent. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by reMarkable. The name reMarkable is used only to describe the device.