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PDF to EXCEL
PDF to Excel reconstructs tables from a PDF by grouping the text items on each page by their vertical position, merging words that sit on the same line, and writing the resulting rows and columns into a genuine .xlsx workbook through SheetJS.
How to use PDF to EXCEL
- Upload the PDF that contains the tables you need.
- Run the extraction; every page is scanned and its rows are rebuilt from the text coordinates.
- Download the .xlsx workbook and check the column alignment before doing further analysis.
Where PDF to EXCEL is useful
- Turning a printed price list into a spreadsheet you can sort and total.
- Extracting statement lines from a bank PDF for reconciliation.
- Lifting survey result tables out of a published report.
Formats, algorithms and limits
PDF has no concept of a table — only positioned characters. The converter clusters text by y-coordinate into rows and by x-coordinate into cells, merging items whose horizontal gap is small enough to belong to the same value. Poorly aligned source tables may need a column pass after import.
Troubleshooting and honest limits
- Use ruled tables where possible; grid lines make row and column boundaries unambiguous.
- Check numeric columns for merged cells after import — a currency symbol fused to a number is the most common artefact.
- Scanned tables with no text layer cannot be read; the words must exist as text in the file for coordinates to be available.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the row and column detection?
Very good on machine-generated tables with consistent spacing, and approximate on dense or irregular layouts. Always spot-check a few rows before relying on the data.
Does this work on scanned PDFs?
No. The converter needs text objects and their coordinates, which only exist in digital PDFs. A scan contains a picture of a table.
Can I convert only one table from a long report?
Yes — extract the relevant page with Extract pages, then convert that single-page file so the workbook contains just the table you need.
Is the .xlsx file a real spreadsheet?
Yes. SheetJS writes a standard workbook that Excel, LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets all open without conversion warnings.
Related tools
Page written and reviewed by the FreeConvertio engineering team on 2026-10-14. PDF to EXCEL runs entirely in your browser — no uploads, no account and no daily limits.