Skip to content
PDF100

PDF to Word: what converts well and what does not

Why converted documents sometimes look different from the original, which PDFs convert cleanly, and what to do with scans.

PDF100 team5 min read

PDF to WordTry it while you read: Convert PDF to an editable Word document (.docx).Open tool

People expect PDF to Word to work like "Save as", but it is closer to reverse-engineering. A PDF does not store paragraphs, columns or tables. It stores characters at exact coordinates. A converter has to infer the structure from those positions.

Converts well

  • Reports, letters and articles exported from a word processor
  • Single-column documents with headings and lists
  • Documents where you mainly need the text, so you can edit and reuse it

Converts with simplifications

  • Multi-column magazine layouts
  • Complex tables with merged cells
  • Text placed over images, and decorative typography

PDF100 rebuilds paragraphs and headings and keeps the reading order. Highly designed layouts come out simplified. Server tools with commercial Office engines can do better on those, at the cost of uploading the file.

Scanned PDFs

A scanned page is a picture of text, so there is nothing to convert. Run OCR PDF first to add a recognized text layer, then convert the result to Word.

Tools mentioned in this article

Keep reading