MCP server
MarkItDown
Convert PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files into clean text Claude can work with.
Published by the company that makes the product.
What it can access
Reads whichever local files or URLs you point it at; the optional OCR-on-images plugin sends image content to whichever AI model you have configured for that step.
Security note
Published by Microsoft itself and listed on GitHub's official MCP registry. The base converter runs on your machine. The optional vision-based OCR plugin does not: it sends images to whichever AI model you configure for that step, so only enable it once you know which model that is.
Before you start
This one needs a terminal (a command-line window) and Python already on your computer. If a terminal is unfamiliar to you, install a Skill from this directory instead, or ask a technical colleague to do these steps with you.
To check whether Python is installed: open the Terminal app (PowerShell on Windows), type python3 --version, and press Enter. A version number means it is installed. “command not found” means you have to install it from its own official website first.
How to install
- Follow the “Installation” section of the project’s own instructions at github.com/microsoft/markitdown.
- You will be asked to add a short block of text to Claude Desktop’s configuration file and restart the app.
- After restarting, open Claude Desktop’s Settings and confirm “MarkItDown MCP Server” is listed as connected.
How to remove it
- Open the configuration file from step 2, delete the block you added for “MarkItDown MCP Server”, save it, and restart Claude Desktop.
- Delete or revoke any API key or account you created for this on the vendor’s own website. Otherwise a stray copy of the configuration file is still a working key.