What is MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs?

Python library by Microsoft that converts PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, images, audio, and HTML to clean Markdown. Perfect for feeding documents into LLM context windows. 8,000+ stars.

Is MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs free to use?

Yes. MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs is freely available on TokRepo. Check the Source & Thanks section on the asset page for the specific open-source license.

How do I install MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs?

Visit the asset page on TokRepo and click "Copy for agent" to get the installation instructions. Most assets can be installed with a single command.

MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs

from markitdown import MarkItDown md = MarkItDown() # Convert any file to Markdown result = md.convert("report.pdf") print(result.text_content) result = md.convert("presentation.pptx") print(result.text_content) result = md.convert("spreadsheet.xlsx") print(result.text_content)

Supported Formats

Format	Extension	Features
PDF	.pdf	Text extraction, tables
Word	.docx	Headers, lists, tables, images
PowerPoint	.pptx	Slide text, speaker notes
Excel	.xlsx	Tables with headers
HTML	.html	Clean text extraction
Images	.jpg, .png	OCR via Azure/OpenAI Vision
Audio	.mp3, .wav	Transcription via Whisper
CSV	.csv	Table format
JSON	.json	Structured text
XML	.xml	Text extraction
ZIP	.zip	Processes contained files

Batch Conversion

from pathlib import Path

md = MarkItDown()
for file in Path("./documents").glob("*.*"):
    result = md.convert(str(file))
    Path(f"./markdown/{file.stem}.md").write_text(result.text_content)

Image OCR (with LLM)

md = MarkItDown(llm_client=openai_client, llm_model="gpt-4o")
result = md.convert("screenshot.png")
# Uses vision model to describe and extract text from images

Audio Transcription

result = md.convert("meeting_recording.mp3")
# Uses Whisper for speech-to-text, outputs as Markdown

RAG Pipeline Integration

from markitdown import MarkItDown
from langchain.text_splitter import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter

md = MarkItDown()
doc = md.convert("quarterly_report.pdf")
chunks = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=512).split_text(doc.text_content)
# Feed chunks into your vector database

MarkItDown vs Docling

Feature	MarkItDown	Docling
Focus	Format breadth	PDF accuracy
Formats	10+ (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, audio...)	6 (PDF, DOCX, PPTX, HTML...)
Table accuracy	Good	Excellent
Figure extraction	Basic	Advanced
OCR	Via LLM vision	Built-in models
By	Microsoft	IBM Research

Key Stats

8,000+ GitHub stars
By Microsoft
10+ input formats
Image OCR and audio transcription
Single API for all formats

FAQ

Q: What is MarkItDown? A: A Python library by Microsoft that converts PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, images, audio, and HTML to clean Markdown for LLM consumption.

Q: Is MarkItDown free? A: Yes, open-source under MIT license.

Q: MarkItDown or Docling? A: MarkItDown for diverse formats (10+ types). Docling for high-accuracy PDF parsing with complex layouts.

MarkItDown — Convert Any File to Markdown for LLMs

Use it first, then decide how deep to go

Supported Formats

Batch Conversion

Image OCR (with LLM)

Audio Transcription

RAG Pipeline Integration

MarkItDown vs Docling

Key Stats

FAQ

Source & Thanks

Discussion

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