PDF to Word
Extract selectable text from a PDF and save it as a Word-compatible document.
Text-based PDFs are supported. Scanned PDFs need OCR.
PDF to Word: quick answer
PDF to Word is useful when you need editable text from a PDF. Text-based PDFs are different from scanned PDFs: scanned pages normally need OCR before their text can be edited.
Before converting
- Check whether the PDF contains selectable text.
- Expect complex layouts, tables or fonts to need checking after conversion.
- Review the output before using it as a final document.
Common mistakes
- Assuming every scanned PDF can be converted perfectly without OCR.
- Not checking formatting after conversion.
Frequently asked questions
Can scanned PDFs be converted to editable Word text?
They generally need OCR. This is different from extracting text that is already present in the PDF.
Quick glossary
OCROptical Character Recognition, used to turn text in scanned images into machine-readable text.
Text-based PDFA PDF whose text can normally be selected.
DOCXA common editable Word document format.