PDF to Word

Convert PDF to Word (DOCX) online for free: get editable text, headings and paragraphs, or an exact page-by-page copy. Private, in-browser conversion.

Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Editable mode recreates text, headings and paragraphs; complex layouts, columns and tables are simplified. Exact layout keeps the look but the text is not editable.

How to convert PDF to Word

  1. Drop a PDF onto the drop zone above, or click to select one.
  2. Choose a mode:
    • Editable text – rebuilds the content as paragraphs and headings you can edit in Word.
    • Exact layout – places an image of each page in the document, so it looks identical to the PDF.
  3. Click Convert to Word and download the .docx file.
  4. Open it in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs or Pages and check the result.

The PDF is read by pdf.js and the Word file is generated by the docx library, both running in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, which matters when the document is a contract, CV or financial statement.

Why PDF to Word is never perfect

Word and PDF store documents in fundamentally different ways. A Word file is a flow of paragraphs: text wraps automatically, and styles such as "Heading 1" describe what each block is. A PDF is closer to a printed page: it records that particular characters in a particular font should be drawn at exact x/y coordinates. It does not usually say "this is a paragraph" or "this is a table cell".

To produce an editable document, a converter has to reverse-engineer that structure from the position and size of each piece of text. In broad terms, that means:

  • reading every text fragment with its coordinates and font size;
  • grouping fragments that sit on the same baseline into lines;
  • joining lines into paragraphs based on the vertical gaps between them;
  • treating noticeably larger text as headings.

Words hyphenated across a line break are also rejoined. In exact layout mode, each page is instead rendered at 150 DPI and inserted as a picture, one page per Word page.

This works well for letters, reports, articles and most single-column documents. It is weaker on layouts where reading order is ambiguous.

Editable textExact layout
Can you edit the text?YesNo
Looks like the PDF?Similar, simplifiedIdentical
Columns and tablesFlattened into paragraphsPreserved visually
Works with scans?No (no text to read)Yes

Limitations

  • Complex layouts are simplified. Multi-column pages, tables, text boxes and side-bars are turned into a sequence of paragraphs. For tabular data, PDF to Excel usually gives a more useful result.
  • Scanned PDFs contain pictures of text, not text. Editable mode finds no text to convert because OCR is not provided; use exact layout instead.
  • Exact fonts, colours, headers and footers are not reproduced in editable mode.
  • Password-protected or encrypted PDFs cannot be opened. Unlock it first with Unlock PDF (you need its password), then come back.
Tip: If you only need the words, for example to paste into an email or translation tool, PDF to Text is faster and gives you plain text without any formatting to clean up.

Frequently asked questions

Which mode should I choose?

Choose editable text if you want to change the wording. Choose exact layout if you need a Word file that looks like the PDF, for instance to add notes around the pages, and don't need to edit the original text.

Why do I get a "No text found" message?

The PDF is probably a scan or was made from images, so it contains no text layer. Try selecting text in your PDF viewer: if you cannot, editable conversion has nothing to extract. Switch to exact layout mode instead.

Are images from the PDF included in editable mode?

Editable mode focuses on text, headings and paragraphs. If the pictures matter, use exact layout, which keeps everything on each page.

How do I convert the Word file back to PDF?

Save it as PDF from your word processor, or use Word to PDF.

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