How to Convert PDF to Google Docs
To convert a PDF to Google Docs, upload it to Google Drive, right-click it and choose Open with > Google Docs. Google reads the text and makes an editable Doc. It works, but the layout is often lost. For a cleaner result, convert the PDF to Word with PDF to Word first and open the .docx in Google Docs instead.
PDF to Word: Turn a PDF into an editable Word file. Free, and your file never leaves your device.
Open PDF to WordSteps
Upload the PDF to Google Drive.
Right-click the file and choose Open with, then Google Docs.
Wait while Google converts it. A new Doc opens with the text.
If the layout is a mess, convert the PDF with PDF to Word, upload the .docx and open that with Google Docs.
Open a PDF with Google Docs in Drive
Google Drive can turn a PDF into a Doc directly. Upload the file, right-click it, and pick Open with > Google Docs. Drive creates a new Doc next to the PDF and leaves the original alone.
Behind the scenes, Google reads the PDF with text recognition, much like OCR. That is why it works on scanned files too. It is also why the result often looks plain: fonts change, columns collapse and spacing shifts. Some images come through and some do not. It suits short documents where you only need the words.
Convert to Word first for a better Doc
Google Docs opens Word files well. So a two-step route often gives a tidier Doc than the direct one.
Open PDF to Word and drop in the PDF. Choose Editable. It rebuilds the text as paragraphs, turns larger text into headings and puts a page break between pages. Download the .docx, upload it to Drive and open it with Google Docs.
The converter runs in your browser, so the PDF is only uploaded where you choose to put it. Tables and multi-column pages still come out as plain paragraphs, so rebuild those in Docs. The guide to converting PDF to Word explains both modes.
PDF to Word: Turn a PDF into an editable Word file. Free, and your file never leaves your device.
Open PDF to WordScanned PDFs
A scanned PDF has pictures of text rather than text. Drive's own conversion will try to read it. With the Word route, run the scan through OCR PDF first so there is text to convert, then use PDF to Word. OCR also makes the PDF itself searchable, which helps if you keep the original. See how to make a scanned PDF searchable.
Either way, check names, dates and numbers. Faint or skewed scans produce mistakes.
Keep an exact copy instead
If you need the Doc to look like the PDF and do not need to edit it, choose Exact look in PDF to Word. Each page goes into the document as a picture. Upload that .docx and Google Docs shows the pages as images. It is a good way to keep a form or a designed page inside a Doc.
Back to PDF when you are done
Google Docs can download a Doc as PDF from File > Download. You can also download it as .docx and convert it with Word to PDF, which keeps headings, lists, tables and images.
Keep the original PDF too. A converted Doc is a new document, and small changes in spacing or line breaks are easy to miss. If you need to check what changed between the original and the final version, compare the two PDFs side by side before you send anything.