How to convert a PDF to an editable Word file
Open PDF to Word, add the PDF and press Make a Word file. You get a .docx you can edit in Word, Google Docs or any office app.
PDF to WordFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open PDF to Word and add the PDF, or several.
- If any pages are scans, choose under Scanned pages: as a picture, as editable words, or both.
- Press Make a Word file.
- Save the .docx and open it in your word processor.
What comes across
Headings, paragraphs, lists and tables are worked out from where the words sit on each page, so a tidy PDF comes out tidy, and bold stays bold. Photos and pictures come along in their places. Page numbers and headers repeated on every page are left out, and a paragraph split by a page break is joined again. Fonts become their nearest Word font.
Scanned pages
A scan is a picture of words. By default a scanned page goes into Word as that picture, exactly as it looks, which is right for passports, ID cards and certificates. Choose Editable words and its words are used instead: the ones a scanner already hid in the file, or else read from the picture by a text reader fetched from this site the first time, which is slower and best with clear, straight scans.
Do you need Word at all?
For a typo or a changed date, Edit text edits the PDF directly and keeps its layout. When you are done in Word, Word or Excel to PDF turns it back, or use your word processor’s own Save as PDF, which keeps your fonts exactly.
A worked example
You have a 6-page typed project report as a PDF and need to change two paragraphs and a table. Open PDF to Word, add it, and press Make a Word file. Open the .docx: headings arrive as Word headings and the table as a real table you can add rows to. Make the changes, then use Word’s own Save as PDF, or Word or Excel to PDF on a phone, for the new version.
What converts well, and what does not
Typed documents with one column of text, clear headings and simple tables convert best: letters, reports, notices, and resumes made in a word processor. Brochures with text in boxes, magazines with several columns, and forms built from many small pieces of text come out with the right words in a layout that needs tidying. Their pictures come along, placed between the paragraphs rather than floating where they were.
Text that was typed into the PDF comes across exactly, letter for letter, because it is copied rather than read from a picture. Only scanned pages depend on the text reader, so a mostly typed document with a scanned annexure converts well everywhere except the annexure, which is worth checking line by line.
Common mistakes
Expecting editable text from a scan while Scanned pages is set to Keep as a picture: choose Editable words and run it again. Expecting exact fonts: Word gets the nearest match, so check the headings and spacing. And converting just to fix a typo, when Edit text changes the PDF itself and keeps every font and position as it was.
Questions people ask
Is my PDF uploaded to convert it?
No. It is read and converted in your browser, on your device.
Will it look exactly like the PDF?
Close, not identical. A PDF fixes every word’s position; a Word file flows text. Complex layouts may need tidying.
Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word?
Yes. Each scanned page goes in as a picture by default; choose Editable words to get its text, and check names and numbers.
Can it convert Malayalam or Hindi PDFs?
Where the PDF holds real text in those scripts, the words come across as they are stored, which for some older files is garbled. Scanned pages are read in English only, so a scanned Malayalam page will not convert properly.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The .docx opens in the Word or Google Docs app on the phone.
Can I convert several PDFs at once?
Yes. Add them all; each becomes its own .docx, and Save all saves them together.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check