Convert a PDF into editable Word text
PDFs are designed to look identical everywhere, which is exactly what makes them awkward to edit. Converting back to Word recovers the text — how cleanly depends on one question: is your PDF real text, or a photograph of text?
Extracts selectable text into a DOCX file locally in your browser.
Up to 50 MB per file. Files are processed in your browser.
Full options and FAQs on the PDF to Word page.
Two kinds of PDF, two kinds of result
If the PDF was exported from Word or another editor, its text is real: the conversion below recovers it directly, and the result is immediately editable. If the PDF is a scan, the pages are images and there is no text to extract — those go through OCR (optical character recognition), which reads the picture and reconstructs the words.
The quick test: try selecting a sentence in your PDF reader. If you can highlight it, it is real text. If the whole page selects as one block or nothing selects, it is a scan.
What happens to the layout
- Plain paragraphs survive well in both routes.
- Columns, tables and text boxes may need tidying after conversion.
- Fonts are substituted if Word does not have them — check headings especially.
- Scanned handwriting converts poorly; expect to retype it.
For scanned documents
Run the OCR tool first to add a text layer, or convert directly — either way, review the output before relying on it. OCR on a clean typed scan is typically excellent; on a skewed photo of a coffee-stained form it will need corrections, particularly on numbers and unusual names.
Step by step
- 1Check whether your PDF has selectable text or is a scan.
- 2Add the PDF to the converter below.
- 3Convert and download the Word file.
- 4Open it in Word (or a free editor) and scan through for layout shifts.
- 5Fix any tables or columns before reusing the content.
Frequently asked questions
- Will the Word file look identical to the PDF?
- The text comes across; the layout is a best effort. Simple documents convert near-perfectly, while complex designs need some manual tidying.
- Does this work on a phone?
- Yes — the conversion runs in your browser, so it works on mobile as well as desktop, with no app to install.
- Is the document uploaded anywhere?
- No. Conversion happens locally in your browser, and the file never leaves your device.