--dc--adobecom.hlx.page/dc-shared/assets/images/shared-images/frictionless/seo-icons/word-pdf-converting.svg An Acrobat PDF document and text document with arrows showing how you can convert a PDF to Microsoft Word
--dc--adobecom.hlx.page/dc-shared/assets/images/shared-images/frictionless/seo-icons/download-and-share.svg A download arrow with a small cloud showing that you can easily download your converted file
As the inventor of the PDF file format, Adobe makes sure our Acrobat PDF to Word converter preserves your document formatting. When you use our online conversion tool, your fonts, images, and alignments will look as expected. The converted file is an editable Word document that you can start using right away in Microsoft Word online.
You can also try Adobe Acrobat Pro free for seven days to convert files to and from Microsoft 365, edit PDF documents with PDF editor tools, edit scanned documents using optical character recognition (OCR) functionality, merge PDFs, organize or rotate PDF pages, split PDFs, reduce file size, and convert HTML, TXT, RTF, PNG, JPG, BMP, and other formats to PDF.
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. This is advanced technology that enables you to transform hard copy documents and images into editable digital files, or to extract data locked inside scanned PDFs into easy-to-edit file formats like Microsoft Word and Excel.
Optical character recognition scans image-based files looking for text and tries to recognize individual characters. Once visual clues inside the document are matched with any character in the underlying character database, OCR produces machine-encoded text that users can edit in word processors.
One more benefit of using OCR software is related to making paper documentation digitally searchable. Once all your scanned documents have been OCRed, you can easily search for a specific document or even a keyword across the whole set of documents.
If you want to have more flexibility over your conversion and the range of output file formats available, try Able2Extract Professional that comes with a powerful OCR engine baked right in to provide you with a complete desktop PDF solution for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
You can choose to convert everything or just a portion of a document, extract special characters in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian languages. Make scanned PDFs searchable without conversion, and get the editable file into various file formats.
Editing a scanned PDF (or any PDF for that matter) can mean at least three completely different tasks (both in terms of complexity and execution). Good news is, Able2Extract Professional can perform all of them on Mac.
Typing on a scanned PDF is possible with a desktop PDF solution such as Able2Extract Professional. Since a scanned PDF is basically an image of a document, typing on it will add a new layer containing text on top of the original image layer.
To conclude, free online tools can help you convert a scanned PDF to Word for free. However, if you are not comfortable with their limitations, you should look into a desktop PDF converter with OCR such as Able2Extract Professional.
The OCR engine in Able2Extract Pro supports recognition of 12 languages and its respective special characters: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish.
Almost all PDF editors include conversion tools. It's just one of many different tools they feature, like OCR software and eSign software. Generally, they'll all convert to the popular filetypes, with some variations and extras, such as converting PDF to JPG, depending on the platform. However, you can find free PDF to Word converters that are largely focused on document conversion across a broad pool of formats - mostly these PDF converters are browser-based, rather than downloadable software.
PDF to Word converters transform PDF (Portable Document Format) files to docx files you can easily open and edit in Microsoft Word. This makes your organization's documents more accessible to those who need to view them. But it also means you can edit PDFs without a PDF editor.
PDFs can be frustratingly stubborn when you need to make a change. That's partly why they were created: to create a standardized document that displays the same whatever platform or device it's opened on. So, when you want to edit the PDF, you need software that can do that. Using the best free PDF to Word converter is a nice little workaround for making amendments in Microsoft Word.
For more options, it's worth exploring the best free PDF editors and online PDF to Word converters. These often have file size and conversion limits, so better for casual users. In most cases, the process is also really simple - pick a document, select the output, download the file for saving and sharing.
PDF Candy has to be one of the simplest PDF to Word converters on the market. A clean, uncomplicated interface makes navigation fluid, and the service boasts of the ability to convert PDFs in just a single click.
In total, the platform packs in 47 tools - from PDF compressors and mergers, to protecting and watermarking files. That comprehensive toolset alone earned it a place on our best free PDF editors guide.
WPS PDF to Word Converter is great for quickly converting from PDF to Word, even if you have batches of documents and want to retain your original formatting. It works on Windows, has an Android app, and has an online converter as well. In our test on Windows 10, images, tables, colors, and even non-standard fonts were preserved in documents created using this product, as was the layout and spacing.
One pain point that people often face is splitting and then merging different sections of a PDF document into one file. With the WPS PDF converter, you can choose the pages you want to convert, order them however you wish, and export a new document in a number of different formats, all with your original formatting and layout intact.
With Nitro PDF converter, you can upload batches of files, but your converted files are emailed to you so you will need to provide an email address to receive your documents. Also, it is only available as a 14-day trial, and you are restricted to five conversions per month. This is a pretty tight limit that seriously restricts the usefulness of the product, in addition to the fact that it only works on Windows OS.
This free PDF converter converts text accurately but images are sometimes distorted in the output file. Other potential problems include random spaces or unexpected line breaks appearing in your final document. However, these issues are pretty minor and can be corrected manually unless you have large batches of files to convert at a time.
With this free PDF to Word converter, you can create, convert, edit, and even sign PDF documents. It works on Windows and Mac and has a full-feature word processor, much like MS Word, that gives you a great deal of control over the documents, text, and images you want to manipulate. You can insert comments anywhere in your file, have someone else review and sign the document once it is ready, and easily share it with collaborators.
This free PDF to Word converter was designed for Windows and saves you from issues related to long upload or download times that are commonly seen with various online tools. Since the application works right from your personal terminal, you do not have to trust your documents or information with a third party, which is important if you work with sensitive data. Unlike the other best free PDF to Word converters, the UniPDF app is lightweight and installs in the blink of an eye. But the free plan doesn't have useful features, like batch conversions and unlimited conversions.
It's also worth looking at who will be converting PDFs to Word. If your organization runs on Microsoft 365 apps, then a quick-and-easy converter capable of running all popular programs is a must - but an online one may be best, for broader accessibility. If only certain departments are regularly using PDFs beyond document conversions, a fully featured PDF editor may be the better option.
Finally, while there are plenty of free PDF to Word converters, they often come with certain limitations on what you can do, and how often you do it. So, if the increased workflow proves productive, it may be worth budgeting for an upgrade or paid-for converter.
We also assessed whether the converters offered advanced features, like document protection, annotation, and signing. All bonuses - although conversion, and ease of conversion, remained top of mind. As part of this, we wanted to see an easy user interface, and an effortless experience that wouldn't make us hate PDF conversion if we were doing it every day in the office.
d3342ee215