About the PDF to Word
Extracts the text layer of a PDF in your browser and saves it as an editable .docx - the words and paragraph breaks, but not columns, tables or images. Tick High-quality conversion to send the file to our conversion service instead, which keeps the layout and can read scans.
Two ways to convert a PDF to Word
Standard mode reads the text layer of the PDF in your browser and builds an editable .docx from it - the words and paragraph breaks, ready to edit. It is instant, it works offline once the page has loaded, and the file never leaves your device, which makes it the right choice for contracts, payslips and anything confidential.
High-quality mode sends the file to Adobe PDF Services and returns a Word file that keeps columns, tables, images and fonts as close to the original as Word allows. Tick it when the layout matters. The file is converted and returned, not stored on our server; each visitor can run five conversions an hour, up to 20 MB per file.
How to convert a scanned PDF to Word
A scanned PDF is a photograph of a page: there is no text in it to copy, which is why converting one in standard mode gives you an empty document. Tick High-quality conversion and the scan is run through OCR (optical character recognition) first, so you get real, editable words. For the best result use a straight, well-lit scan; a photo taken at an angle loses accuracy. If you only need the scan to be searchable rather than editable, OCR PDF does that entirely in your browser.
Converting PDF to Word without losing formatting
- Text-only documents - letters, essays, simple reports - come through well in standard mode.
- Anything with tables, columns, headers and footers or images needs high-quality mode.
- Fonts the document uses but your computer lacks are substituted when you open the .docx; install them, or accept a close match.
- A PDF that asks for a password must be unlocked first with Unlock PDF.
Works with Word, Google Docs and Pages
The download is a standard .docx file, so it opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs (upload it to Drive), LibreOffice and Apple Pages, on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone. Going the other way? Word to PDF turns the edited document back into a PDF, and PDF to Text is quicker when you only need the words.
