About the PDF to Word
PDF to Word reads the text in your PDF, page by page, and writes it into a plain, editable .docx file. It works out the order of the lines, joins lines that belong to one paragraph, and guesses headings from big type and bullet lists from marker characters such as a dot or a dash. The Word file opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages. Fonts, colours, tables, columns, pictures, headers and footers are not carried over, and the page will not look identical to the PDF. Everything happens in your browser, so the document is never uploaded.
Updated September 2026
How to use the PDF to Word
- 1Select the PDF, or drop it on the page.
- 2Choose all pages or type the pages you want, such as 1, 3-5.
- 3Leave page breaks and heading detection on, or switch them off.
- 4Press Convert to Word and wait for the progress line to finish.
- 5Download the .docx file and open it in Word or Google Docs.
What this converter keeps and what it doesn't
The tool looks at where each piece of text sits on the page. Pieces on the same height become one line, lines are read from top to bottom, and neighbouring lines are joined into a paragraph when the space between them is small. A word split with a hyphen at the end of a line is joined back together when the next line starts in lowercase.
That is all it keeps. Fonts, colours, text boxes, columns, tables, pictures, page numbers, headers and footers are not copied, and the result is not meant to look like the original. Think of it as a fast way to get the words into a document you can edit, rather than a copy of the page.
Choosing pages and page breaks
Leave All pages on for a short document. For a long report, choose Only some pages and type the chapter you need, for example 12-20. Fewer pages means a quicker conversion and a smaller Word file.
Keep page breaks puts a Word page break wherever a new PDF page starts, which helps when you want to compare the two files side by side. Switch it off if you want the text to flow as one long document. Word will then paginate it by itself, and it is easier to reformat.
Scanned PDFs: convert them with OCR first
A PDF made from a scanner or a phone camera holds pictures, not letters. This tool cannot read pictures. When it finds a page with no text it leaves that page empty and lists the page numbers, and if the whole file is a scan it stops and tells you so.
The fix is to run the file through PDF OCR, which recognises the letters and saves a PDF with a text layer. Then bring that new PDF back here. Check the OCR result for mistakes before you convert, because errors in the recognised text carry straight into the Word file.
Getting a cleaner Word file
- Turn off Detect headings and bullet lists if body text turns into headings.
- Split long files first with Split PDF and convert one part at a time.
- Join the converted parts afterwards in Word, or merge the PDFs first with Merge PDF.
- For plain text with no Word file, PDF to Text gives a single box to copy from.
- Check numbers, names and dates against the PDF before you send the document on.
Features
- Editable .docx output with real paragraphs
- Headings guessed from font size
- Bullet lists rebuilt from marker characters
- Optional Word page break between PDF pages
- Convert all pages or only a range
- Warns about pages that are scans
- No sign-up and no upload
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded when I convert it to Word?
No. The text is read and the Word file is built by your own browser, so nothing is sent to a server. That makes it safe for contracts, letters and other private papers. You can close the tab afterwards and nothing remains anywhere else.
Will the formatting stay the same?
No. Only the text and its order are kept, plus headings and bullets that the tool can recognise. Fonts, colours, columns, tables, pictures and headers or footers are left out, so the Word page will look plainer than the PDF. Expect to tidy the file a little.
Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word?
Not directly. A scan is a picture of a page, so it has no text to copy. Run it through PDF OCR first to make text, then convert the result here. If a page has no text, this tool tells you which pages were left empty.
Why are my tables not tables in Word?
The converter does not read table lines or cells. The words in a table come out as ordinary lines, one after another. If you need the numbers in a grid, PDF to Excel reads the position of the text and can rebuild simple tables.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Open the page in Safari or Chrome, pick the PDF from Files or Downloads and tap Convert to Word. Very large PDFs can be slow on a phone, so convert a few pages at a time if the page stalls.
Can I convert only some pages?
Yes. Choose Only some pages and type numbers or ranges such as 2, 4-6. Only those pages are read and written, in page order, and the rest of the PDF is ignored. This also keeps big files fast.