How to convert a PDF to an editable Word document
PDF to Word creates a DOCX file from your PDF, rebuilding paragraphs, columns and detectable tables so you can edit the text in Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs. Images in the PDF are carried over into the document.
It is the tool for when someone sends you a contract or CV as a PDF and you need to change something, or when you want to reuse the text of a report without copying it line by line.
Step by step
- Upload the PDF (or several) with Choose PDF.
- If it is a scan, the Recognize and recover the content panel appears: choose the language and click Apply OCR and convert.
- If it has digital text, start the conversion directly.
- Download the DOCX and review it in your word processor.
Why the result needs a review
A PDF does not store paragraphs or styles: it stores characters placed at coordinates. Converting to Word means rebuilding that structure, which is why it works very well with documents exported from a word processor and less well with complex layouts such as magazines, text over images or overlapping boxes.
Available fonts are kept; otherwise a close match is used and fonts whose licence allows it are embedded. Check line breaks, tables and numbering before you rely on the document.
Scans and built-in OCR
If the PDF is a photo or a scan, there is no text to extract. The tool then offers to recognise it right there, with the same settings as OCR PDF (language, accuracy, background and layout), and then prepares the editable document.
Up to 50 pages per PDF and 50 MB per job.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the formatting preserved?
- Paragraphs, columns and detectable tables are rebuilt and available fonts are kept. Complex designs may need some touching up.
- Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word?
- Yes. The scan is detected and you can run OCR and convert in one step.
- What format do I get?
- DOCX, which opens in Word, LibreOffice, Pages and Google Docs.
- Are images kept?
- Yes, the images in the PDF are included in the Word document.
- Are my documents stored?
- No. They are processed only for the conversion and deleted from the server afterwards.