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PDF to Word

Turn a PDF into a Word document you can edit: paragraphs, headings, bulleted and numbered lists, tables and pictures come back as real Word content. The PDF is converted in your browser and never uploaded.

Updated by Khokhar Sab

How do I convert a PDF to Word?

Press Choose a PDF, keep Layout on Editable for a normal Word document, and press Convert to Word. When it finishes, press Download and open the .docx file in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice. Choose Keep layout instead if the document must look as close to the PDF as possible.

  1. Press Choose a PDF.
  2. Pick a Layout: Editable or Keep layout.
  3. If the PDF has scanned pages, leave Read scanned pages with OCR on and pick the language.
  4. Press Convert to Word, then Download the .docx file.

Editable or Keep layout: which should I choose?

Choose Editable to change the text: you get normal Word paragraphs that reflow, real headings for the navigation pane, lists and tables. Choose Keep layout when the look matters more than editing, such as a flyer: each paragraph sits in a box at its exact place, so editing one can overlap another.

What does the converter find in my PDF?

A PDF stores letters at positions, not paragraphs or tables, so the tool rebuilds them. This table shows what it found in our test documents, converted with the tool. Check tables and multi-column pages after converting, since unusual layouts can still need tidying.

Test PDFParagraphsHeadingsTablesPicturesTime
2-page report: title, headings, list, ruled table, picture, two columns, link135111.3 s
2-page report: 38 numbered lines, plus a photo page checked with OCR (no text found)3910011.5 s
3-page letter: 2 scanned pages read with OCR, 1 text page80006.4 s
2-page bank statement: transactions lined up with spaces, no ruling lines00300.3 s

Measured on 2026-10-12 in Chrome 152 on an i5-8350U laptop.

Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word?

Yes. Pages without a text layer are read with OCR, the same Tesseract engine as our OCR PDF tool, in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Russian. Clean scans at 300 dpi convert best; the text comes back in a plain font, and handwriting is not read.

Limits and fixes

  • Tables without lines are found when horizontal rules mark them, or when at least 3 columns line up over 4 or more rows; looser layouts may come back as paragraphs.
  • Drawings and charts made of vector shapes are not carried over; pictures are.
  • Turned text, such as a vertical label, is left out.
  • Fonts keep the PDF's names; Word shows a similar font if one is not installed.
  • Forms and signatures become plain text; fill forms with Fill PDF instead.
  • Locked PDFs need their password removed first with Unlock PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free?

Yes, with no sign-up, no watermark, no page limit and no daily cap.

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. The PDF is read and the Word file is written in your browser.

Does it work with Google Docs?

Yes. Upload the .docx to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs.

Why are some headers and page numbers missing?

Text repeated at the top or bottom of most pages, such as running headers and page numbers, is left out so it does not end up in the middle of the text.

How do I turn the Word file back into a PDF?

Use our Word to PDF tool, or save as PDF from Word.

Learn more

How this tool was built and tested