How to convert a PDF to an editable Word document

A PDF is great for sharing but awkward to change. If you need to update a resume, fix a letter or reuse text from a report, converting the PDF to Word is often the quickest route. Docshar's PDF to Word tool creates a .docx file in which pictures, lines and colours stay where they were, and the text is placed on top as normal, editable Word lines.

Docshar processes your file in your browser, so it is not uploaded to our servers. Files can be up to 10 MB each.

Step by step

1. Open PDF to Word. Go to Docshar PDF to Word.
2. Add your PDF. Click Choose file or drop the PDF on the page.
3. Convert. Click Convert to Word. Docshar converts the pages one by one and shows the progress.
4. Download the .docx file. Click Download. The file has the same name as your PDF, ending in .docx.
5. Edit it. Open the file in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, WPS Office or LibreOffice and make your changes.

Scanned PDFs need OCR first

If your PDF is a scan or a photo of paper, it has no real text inside, only a picture of text. The Word file will then show the page but there will be nothing to edit. Run the PDF through OCR first to recognise the text, then convert the searchable PDF, or copy the text from the text file OCR creates.

Only need a few changes?

For small fixes such as a wrong date, a spelling mistake or a changed phone number, you may not need Word at all. The Docshar PDF Editor lets you click on existing text in the PDF and change it directly. See how to edit text in a PDF.

Tips

• Each PDF page becomes its own section in Word with the same page size, so the document looks like the original.
• Long paragraphs are split into separate lines, as in the PDF. If you plan to rewrite a lot of text, join the lines in Word first.
• If you only need the words, not the layout, PDF to Text gives you a plain text file.
• Tables are better handled by PDF to Excel if you want to work with the numbers.

Frequently asked questions