PDF | 3 min

How to convert a PDF to a Word document

The PDF to Word tool rebuilds the page as an editable document rather than pasting plain text, so headings, bullets, tables and pictures come across. It runs in your browser, so your file is not uploaded.

Steps

1. 1

   Open PDF to Word

   Go to the tool and add your PDF.

2. 2

   Pick how it should look

   The default, Matched formatting (recommended), keeps fonts, sizes, colours, headings, bullets, tables and pictures and stays editable. Choose Plain text, easiest to edit for a simple document, or Exact look, pages as pictures if appearance matters more than editing.

3. 3

   Limit the pages if you want

   Leave Pages empty for the whole document, or type a range such as 1-5 to convert only part of it.

4. 4

   Convert and open in Word

   Download the file, open it in Word and check the pages that matter most, such as tables and headers.

Tips

• A scanned PDF has no real text to convert. Make it readable first with PDF OCR and choose a Word document as the result.
• Documents that use unusual fonts may look slightly different if the font is not on your computer.
• Convert only the pages you need to keep the check short.

Questions

Will the layout match the PDF exactly?

Matched formatting is close and stays editable. Exact look, pages as pictures looks identical but the text cannot be edited, so choose it only when you need the appearance.

Why is my converted file empty or odd?

The PDF is probably a scan, which is only a picture of each page. Use PDF OCR for scans.