How to Convert PDF to Excel

Which PDFs convert cleanly

The converter reads where each piece of text sits on the page and lines it up into rows and columns. Simple, cleanly aligned tables convert best, such as price lists and statements with a clear grid.

Merged cells, wrapped text and irregular layouts need tidying afterward. A cell spanning two columns may land in one of them, and a long description split over two lines may take two rows. Plan a few minutes of cleanup for complex tables.

The converter works on the text it can read, not on lines or shading. A table drawn as a picture, such as a screenshot pasted into a report, behaves like a scan and needs OCR first.

One sheet per page, one sheet for everything, or CSV

One sheet per page mirrors the PDF. It is easiest to check against the original.

All pages on one sheet suits a long table that runs across many pages, such as a year of transactions. You get a single list to sort and filter. Delete any repeated header rows once it is open.

CSV is plain text with commas between values. Choose it when the data is going into a database or an accounting tool rather than into Excel.

Convert only the pages with tables

Reports often wrap one or two tables in pages of text. Converting the whole file fills the spreadsheet with stray sentences.

Pull out just the table pages first with Extract PDF Pages, then convert that smaller file with the PDF to XLSX tool. The guide on how to extract pages from a PDF shows how to pick them.

How to convert a scanned PDF to Excel

A scanned table is an image, with no text positions to read, so the spreadsheet comes out empty. Run the scan through OCR PDF first to add a text layer, then convert it. The guide on how to make a scanned PDF searchable explains the OCR step.

Check the numbers carefully after OCR. A misread digit in a financial table matters more than a typo in a letter.

Cleaning up the spreadsheet in Excel

A few fixes cover most tables. If a column holds two values, split it with Text to Columns on the Data tab. If numbers are stored as text, select the column and change its format to Number. Use Find and Replace to strip currency symbols before doing sums.

Excel in Microsoft 365 on Windows can also import a PDF itself, from Data, then Get Data, then From File, then From PDF. It is worth trying on the same file if a table resists. To go the other way, Excel to PDF turns a spreadsheet back into a printable PDF table.