To convert a PDF to Excel, use an online converter like pdf.net. The process is pretty straightforward: just open the converter tool, upload your document, and turn your PDF into Excel.
The advantage of PDF-to-Excel conversion is that it allows you to turn all the data from specific documents into an Excel format without any formatting or quality issues. Additionally, it facilitates the use of Excel-friendly content, such as information for graphs, spreadsheets, and tables.
In this article, we will show you how to convert a PDF file to Excel online with only a few clicks. Let’s start!
Key Takeaways
- You can easily convert a PDF to Excel online by uploading your file to our online PDF converter and downloading the newly converted document.
- This conversion helps you avoid manual data entry and use Excel-friendly content (tables, formulas) in a more suitable format with more features to modify it.
- pdf.net allows you to convert PDFs to Excel on a laptop, mobile, or any other device and offers various additional tools for tweaking your documents.
Why Converting PDFs to Excel Is Useful
Converting PDFs to Excel is useful for various reasons—it is time-saving, keeps the original document formatting and quality, and allows you to use Excel-friendly data in its native format.
This type of conversion can transfer thousands of data entries from PDFs to Excel files, so you don't have to do it manually. This further means that you can save time and prevent errors, which are rather common in manual data entry.
Moreover, using advanced PDF-to-Excel converters such as pdf.net allows you to shift information among files while keeping it unblemished. This is especially important for Excel documents, as they usually contain formulas, which must remain intact to serve their purpose.
Lastly, a PDF file may contain tables, graphs, or similar data, such as integers (which you can check using the INT function), decimal numbers, and currencies. Therefore, transforming such a file into Excel creates additional opportunities to modify and use the aforementioned data, which might be the main PDF-to-Excel conversion benefit.
How to Convert PDF to Excel: 3 Methods Explained
To convert PDF to Excel, you can use an online converter, like pdf.net, native functions in Microsoft Excel, or add-ons in Google Sheets. All these methods have certain advantages, so the best one depends on your specific needs.
Now, let’s explore each in more detail.
#1. Using an Online PDF to Excel Converter
Using an online converter is the easiest way to convert PDFs to Excel online. pdf.net is one of the best online PDF-to-Excel converters because it streamlines the entire process. Our converter has a user-friendly interface, which makes this solution simple, yet quick and effective.
In addition, our tool boasts high-end conversion, meaning that you can convert a PDF to Excel without losing formatting or quality. Plus, you can convert a PDF to a CSV file, as well as many other formats such as Word, JPG, PNG, and bank statements.
That said, let’s see how to convert PDF to Excel using pdf.net’s online converter step by step:
1. Visit our homepage, hover over the Convert drop-down menu, and click PDF to Excel.
2. Click the Choose File button to select a file from your drive manually, or drag and drop your PDF into the box labeled Drop file here to convert.
3. Once your upload finishes, the pop-up window will appear, asking you to confirm your conversion choice (you can easily switch to PDF-to-Word conversion or pick any other format). Just click the Convert to XLSX button and wait a few moments.
4. After your PDF-to-Excel conversion is complete, click the Download button in the top-right corner to save the file to your device. Alternatively, you can click the Share button to send your file via link or email.
It is important to note that you can convert a PDF to Excel on mobile or any other device with our online converter, regardless of the manufacturer or operating system.
#2. Using Microsoft Excel
You don’t need to use third-party tools to convert PDF to Excel, as Microsoft Excel has built-in features that allow you to do just that. However, keep in mind that this requires Excel 2016 or later with a Microsoft 365 subscription, or Excel 2019 and above.
If your Excel version support it, here is how to do this step by step:
- Open Microsoft Excel and click on the Data tab in the top ribbon.
- Click Get Data, hover over From File, and select From PDF.
- Choose the desired PDF file when the dialogue box pops up and click on Import.
- When the Navigator menu appears, you’ll see all the tables in the PDF document along with the data from them. Select the tables you want to import and click on Load to complete the process.
#3. Using Google Sheets
Although Google Sheets doesn’t have a built-in option for PDF conversion like Excel, there are available add-ons that can make this process very simple. Here’s how to get and use a PDF to Sheets extension:
1. Open Google Sheets and click on Extensions in the top ribbon.
2. Select Add-ons from a drop-down menu.
3. Click on Get add-ons.
4. A new window will pop up, showing Google Workspace Marketplace. Type “Convert PDF to Excel” in the search bar to find a suitable app.
5. Choose an app and click Install.
6. Once your app is installed, go back to Extensions, find it in the drop-down menu, and click Open PDF to Sheets.
7. In the new dialogue box, click Browse Files or simply drag and drop your PDF files into the designated box.
8. Select the pages you want to process and click Process Selected Pages.
9. Once your pages are processed, the app will automatically extract data and add it to your Google Sheets document.
5 Common Problems When Converting PDF to Excel
Common problems when converting PDF to Excel include broken table structures, missing data, formatting loss, and unrecognized fonts. Below, we’ll examine these issues in more detail and recommend some effective solutions.
#1. Broken Table Structure
When you convert a PDF to Excel, you may face issues with tables not showing up clearly as they do in the original document. Instead, the columns may be misaligned, the cells merged, and the text all mashed up, making the table appear confusing.
This generally happens because PDF isn’t designed as a data source format, so the tables that appear in it may not be tagged as such. As a result, they only visually look like tables, but aren’t recognized by the software.
When this happens, you can use the Power Query editor in Excel to fix the table. Access it through the Navigator window by clicking on Transform Data. This editor allows you to align and rename columns, combine tables, remove unnecessary rows, and more.
If this doesn’t help, you can always manually fix your table. However, depending on its size, this can be a lengthy and tedious process.
#2. Missing Data
The issue with missing data usually occurs when the PDF you’re trying to convert to Excel is actually a scanned image rather than selectable text. When that’s the case, Excel can’t read the data, and the sheet ends up completely blank.
To fix this, use an optical character recognition (OCR) tool to convert the scanned image into text, then import the data. You can do this in Adobe Acrobat or by using online OCR tools; whichever you choose, the process is usually quite simple.
Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the PDF tables you want to convert, go to the Data tab, then Get Data, and click From Picture. After that, select your desired picture and let Excel do the rest. Instead of a screenshot, you can also use our PDF to JPG tool for the same result.
#3. Formatting Loss
It can be difficult to transfer tables from a PDF to Excel and preserve formatting because the two file types store information in completely different ways. Essentially, PDF doesn’t use real tables, but rather text and visuals at specific coordinates. On the other hand, Excel uses actual rows, columns, and cells.
So, it’s hardly surprising that the formatting and the overall table integrity may be compromised during the conversion. In a way, Excel has to guess where to place certain data and how to format it, as it has no clear instructions.
Though there is no universal fix, you can do several things to ensure the formatting stays as close to the original as possible. Look for PDFs with simple and consistent tables that are tagged as such and digitally generated. Use OCR and PDF editors to make your file as Excel-friendly as possible before converting.
#4. Unrecognized Fonts
If your PDF contains rare and unusual fonts or unembedded characters, there’s a chance that Excel won’t recognize them. In that case, it might substitute them with garbled text, and your Excel data might become unreadable.
To prevent this from happening, make sure that the PDF you’re trying to convert to Excel contains common fonts and that they are all embedded properly. This is easy to do by using the Print function: open your PDF in Google Chrome, press CTRL+P (or CMD+P on Mac), and choose Save as PDF. The new version of your document will be flattened, with all fonts embedded.
4 Tips for Better Conversion Results
Here are four tips to help you achieve better PDF to Excel conversion results:
- Use built-in tools, like Power Query. Aside from making it easy to import PDF data into Excel, Power Query also comes with numerous features that allow you to adjust and clean your tables. So, even if the conversion isn’t perfect initially, you can improve it with this tool.
- Ensure your PDF isn’t a scanned image. Excel can’t read data from a scanned PDF, so it’s likely that none of the tables will be converted at all. You can check by trying to select a few words in your PDF; if you can’t, it’s scanned.
- Use simple fonts and formatting. The more complex and stylized a PDF is, the less likely your result is to be good. So, make the necessary changes in our PDF editor to make the document more Excel-friendly.
- Test different tools. Power Query may be a simple, built-in solution, but it’s not always the right one. Try an online converter, like pdf.net, to see if it gives a better result, and then choose what suits you more.
Beyond Conversion: What Else You Can Do with pdf.net
You have more opportunities beyond conversion, as our PDF editor offers many other useful features that can help you handle your PDFs, such as:
- Annotation software. You can add comments or sticky notes to your documents quickly with this tool. Additionally, you can highlight text in PDFs and draw your readers’ attention to the key elements in your files.
- Compression tool. To make the upload, loading, and sharing process easier, you can compress PDFs without losing quality. Just like during the conversion process, our software will preserve the formatting of your documents.
- Add text to PDFs. If you want to update your content, you can use our tool to add new text to your PDFs. The software automatically recognizes all text fields and lets you type in them while also allowing you to adjust the font style, size, and color.
- Chat PDF. You can interact with your PDF documents directly by asking questions and getting instant answers. This makes it easy to find information and summarize key points without having to read through them manually.
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Final Thoughts
As you could see in this guide, turning your PDF files into Excel ones isn’t as difficult as it may sound; in fact, it’s as simple as it gets thanks to pdf.net. So, if you want to convert PDFs to Excel without offline programs or burdensome downloads, you can take advantage of our online converter to get fast format transformation, even for large files.
This way, you can convert your documents without losing quality or formatting, which is particularly important for the data types used in Excel, such as numbers and formulas. Moreover, the PDF-to-Excel converter is available on all platforms and devices, and you can test it at any time!
How to Convert PDF to Excel FAQs
#1. Does the conversion maintain all formulas from my PDF?
While pdf.net retains layout and numeric data accurately, actual Excel formulas may not carry over unless the original PDF was exported from Excel.
#2. Is my data secure when I upload PDFs to pdf.net?
Yes, your data is secure when you upload PDFs to pdf.net. We use strong encryption to protect your files before, during, and after conversion, and we delete all your documents from our cloud storage after you finish using our services.
#3. How accurate is the conversion for complex financial tables?
The conversion for complex financial tables is highly accurate thanks to the high-quality decoding, extraction, and encoding processes that our online converter offers.
#4. Can I convert password-protected PDFs to Excel?
Yes, you can convert password-protected PDFs to Excel if you know the password. Use our Unlock tool, type in the password, and remove it. After that, the conversion process runs smoothly.
#5. Can I convert multiple PDFs to Excel at once?
No, you can’t convert multiple PDFs to Excel at once. However, you can use our Merge tool to combine your PDFs before the conversion. After that, simply upload your PDF to our converter tool and download it as an Excel file.
#6. How long does the conversion process typically take?
The conversion process typically takes a few seconds to complete. Still, it can take longer if the file size is larger.
#7. Will my table formatting and cell colors be preserved in the Excel file?
Yes, your table formatting and cell colors can be preserved in the Excel file. The pdf.net converter maintains formatting of simple tables, including cell colors and borders.