Summarizer
Summarize articles, reports, papers and books as bullets, takeaways, a TL;DR, study notes and more. Paste text, open a link or upload a PDF.
The summarizer turns long text into a short summary in the format you need. Paste an article, open a web page, or upload a PDF or Word file, then pick a format and a length. Long documents are read in parts first, so nothing in the middle gets skipped.
Open Summarizer in the sidebar.
Summarize a text
- Add your text in one of three ways:
- paste it into the box (headings and lists you paste are kept);
- click Upload PDF, Word or text;
- click From a link and paste the page address.
- Optionally give it a Title. When you import a file or link, its title is filled in for you.
- Pick a format and a Length.
- Optionally choose a Language and a Focus.
- Click Summarize.
The text needs at least 40 words. The word count under the box tells you how long your text is.
Formats
| Format | What you get |
|---|---|
| Bullet points | The main points, one specific idea per bullet (the default) |
| Paragraph | A summary in well-written paragraphs |
| Key takeaways | 5 to 10 standalone statements a busy reader can act on |
| TL;DR | One to three sentences |
| Executive summary | Context, key findings, implications and recommended actions, under short headings |
| Outline | Headings and sub-points that mirror the structure of the source |
| Study notes + Q&A | Key concepts with definitions, main arguments, facts and figures, then 5 review questions with answers |
| Section by section | A short heading and a few lines for each part of the source |
Length
- Short: about 10% of the source, at most 150 words.
- Medium: about 20% of the source, at most 400 words.
- Detailed: about 30% of the source, at most 900 words.
The limits matter for long sources: a 50-page report still gets a summary of at most 900 words. For more detail on a long document, try Section by section or Outline.
Language and focus
- Language: Same as the text (the default) writes the summary in the language of your source. Pick another language to get the summary translated.
- Focus (optional): tell it what matters to you, for example "only the findings about pricing, for a manager". The summary then centers on that.
Long documents
Texts longer than about 14,000 characters (roughly 2,500 words) are read in parts. The summarizer first writes dense notes on each part, then writes the summary from those notes. You see progress like "Reading part 3 of 8" and then "Writing the summary". You can paste up to about 600,000 characters (roughly 100,000 words).
Click Stop at any time to end it.
The result
Above the summary you see the length change, for example "4,210 words → 320 words (92% shorter)", plus two buttons:
- Copy copies the summary as text (with Markdown marks for headings and bullets).
- Word downloads it as a Word (.doc) file.
Every summary is saved. It gets its own address, and it is listed under Recent at the bottom of the page with its word count and date. Click one to open it again with its source text and settings.
AI words and limits
The summary counts toward your monthly AI words. For long documents, the notes written for each part count too, so a very long document uses more AI words than the short summary you see. See Plans and limits.
Tips
- Pick the format for the job. Key takeaways for a busy reader, Study notes + Q&A for revision, Executive summary for a manager.
- Use Focus on long reports to skip the parts you don't need.
- Check numbers. The summarizer is told to keep numbers, names and dates exact and never invent anything. It is still AI, so check key facts against the source.
- For flashcards and a practice quiz from the same material, use Study sets.
Troubleshooting
"Add at least 40 words to summarize" Your text is too short. Add more text.
"This PDF has no readable text (it may be a scan)." The PDF is a scanned image. Copy the text in, or use a PDF with selectable text. You can also attach the scan in AI Chat, which can read scanned pages, and ask for a summary there.
"No article text found on that page" or "Could not open that page" The page needs a login, blocks automatic readers or has little text. Open it in your browser, copy the text and paste it in.
"The summarizer needs AI" AI writing is not turned on for this site. Ask the site admin.