Convert PDF to Word
Get an editable DOCX from a PDF, including scanned pages when OCR is on.
Drop a PDF hereLet go to start
or paste with Ctrl/⌘+V
Try it 2× without an account. A free account includes 10 office & advanced conversions a month. See plans
What it does
PDF to Word, explained
PDF to Word rebuilds the content of a PDF as an editable DOCX: text becomes paragraphs you can retype, ruled tables become Word tables, and pictures become images in the document. Open it in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice and edit normally.
Read more
A PDF stores where each letter sits on the page, not paragraphs and styles, so the converter has to infer structure. Single-column letters, reports and contracts usually convert cleanly. Multi-column newsletters, forms with text boxes, and pages with text over images are harder: expect to fix some line breaks, spacing or reading order.
For scanned PDFs, turn on OCR. Without it a scan has no text to extract and you would get pictures of pages. With OCR, recognized text becomes editable; accuracy depends on scan quality, and handwriting is not recognized.
This conversion runs on our processing servers, so the file is uploaded. Without an account you can run 2 conversions to try it; the Free plan includes 10 a month and Pro 500. If you only need to change a few words, editing the PDF directly in the PDF editor keeps the layout exactly as it is.
How to do it
Convert PDF to Word in 4 steps
1Your PDF
2Convert
3The new format
- 1
Upload your PDF
Up to 25 MB without an account (50 MB on the Free plan). Unlock password-protected files first.
- 2
Choose pages and OCR
Convert all pages or a range. OCR is suggested automatically when pages have no text layer.
- 3
Convert
The file is processed on our servers; progress shows on the page.
- 4
Download the DOCX
Open it in Word or any editor that reads DOCX and review tables and line breaks.
Example
Before and after
A 5-page PDF services agreement exported from a word processor, with numbered clauses, a two-column fee table and a logo in the header.
A DOCX with each clause as an editable paragraph, the fee table as a Word table you can add rows to, and the logo as an image at the top of page 1.
Settings & formats
What you can control
- Pages
- All pages or a range such as 1-5.
- OCR
- Off (default), Auto (only pages without usable text) or On (all pages). Use On for PDFs that are part scan, part digital. Recognized pages count as OCR pages.
- OCR languages
- Up to four languages that appear in the document, so accented characters and non-Latin scripts are recognized correctly.
Input
Output
Good to know before you start
- Fonts are matched to the closest font available on our servers when the original is not installed there, so line breaks and page breaks can shift.
- Complex layouts (multiple columns, text boxes, text wrapped around images) may come out as a single flow of paragraphs in a different reading order.
- Headers and footers are converted as body text on each page rather than as Word header and footer sections.
- Form fields, comments, signatures and other annotations are not converted into Word equivalents.
- This is a beta conversion; complex documents may need manual cleanup.
If something goes wrong
If something goes wrong
- The Word file contains pictures of pages instead of text
- The PDF is scanned or image-based. Convert again with OCR set to On.
- Text appears with odd spacing or broken lines
- The PDF positions text line by line. In Word, use Find and Replace on paragraph marks, or convert again and edit only the parts you need.
- Characters show as boxes or wrong symbols
- The PDF uses fonts without a proper text mapping. Convert with OCR set to On so the text is read from the page image instead.
PDF to Word: questions people ask
Will the Word document look exactly like the PDF?
Close, but not always identical. Text, tables and images carry over; fonts that are not available on our servers are substituted and complex layouts may reflow. Check it before sending.
Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word?
Yes, with OCR on. Printed text is recognized into editable text; handwriting, stamps and very low-resolution scans are not reliably recognized.
Do I need an account?
You can run 2 conversions without an account. The Free plan includes 10 conversions a month, Pro 500.
Can I convert only one page?
Yes. Enter a page range, such as 3, before converting.
Is my file kept on your servers?
It is uploaded for processing. Files from sessions without an account are deleted after 24 hours; signed-in users can delete documents at any time.
Should I convert to Word or edit the PDF?
For small text fixes, edit the PDF directly; the layout stays exactly the same. Convert to Word when you need to rewrite large sections or reuse the content.