How to convert a Word document to PDF
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Contents
To convert a Word document to PDF, open Word to PDF, add your .docx or .doc file, press Convert to PDF, and download the result. The PDF is named after your file, and its typed text stays text you can search, select and copy.
The pages are laid out by LibreOffice, not by Microsoft Word, following the page size, margins, headers and footers set in the document. A font our server lacks is replaced by a stand-in, which can move a line or page break, so check the pages before you send them.
Word to PDF runs on a secure server. Your document, up to 50 MB, travels over an encrypted connection and is deleted when the job ends; the download link stops working after 60 minutes. Spreadsheets and presentations go through Excel to PDF and PowerPoint to PDF the same way.
Step by step
- 1Open the Word to PDF tool.
- 2Drag your .docx or .doc onto the box that says “Add your document, or browse”, or click it to choose the file. Remove swaps it for another.
- 3Press Convert to PDF. The document uploads over an encrypted connection, and the button follows the job while LibreOffice converts it.
- 4When “Your PDF is ready.” appears, press Download. The link stops working after 60 minutes, so save the PDF before you close the tab.
- 5Open the PDF and look for moved page breaks, a changed font or a shifted image before you send it.
How the PDF is laid out
LibreOffice reads Word's formats, but it is not Microsoft Word, so differences tend to show in fonts and floating objects. A font the document names that our server does not have is replaced by a substitute whose letter widths may differ, which can push the last lines of a page onto the next; text boxes and wrapped images may land slightly elsewhere.
Documents built with styles, tables and pictures set in line with text give it the least to reinterpret. If something drifted, fix it in the Word file, for example by setting a floating image in line with text, and convert again.
Excel and PowerPoint files
Excel to PDF takes an Excel workbook or a CSV file and has LibreOffice print it to PDF. There is no sheet picker and no layout setting on the page, so set landscape and fit-to-page scaling in your spreadsheet app before converting if the columns split across pages.
PowerPoint to PDF takes a .pptx or .ppt and writes one slide per page. Speaker notes and slides marked hidden are not exported, so unhide any slide you want in the PDF first.
Accepted files and limits
Word to PDF accepts Word's .docx and the older .doc format, one document per conversion, up to 50 MB. Other formats, such as .odt, .rtf or .pages, are turned away rather than guessed at.
A file that needs a password to open cannot be converted, because the page has no password field. Remove the password in Word, save a copy, and convert the copy.
Common questions
Why do the page breaks differ from what Word shows me?
Because LibreOffice, not Microsoft Word, decides where each line and page ends. If the document names a font our server does not have, a substitute is used, and a slightly wider one can push lines onto the next page. Typed text stays selectable either way.
Does Word to PDF upload my document?
Yes. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection to a secure server, which deletes it once the conversion job is finished. The PDF's download link stops working after 60 minutes, and a daily storage rule erases the stored copy.
Which file types can I convert?
Word to PDF takes .docx and .doc. Excel to PDF takes Excel workbooks and CSV files, and PowerPoint to PDF takes .pptx and .ppt.
How big can the document be?
Up to 50 MB, one document per conversion. For a batch, convert one file, press Remove, and add the next.
Can I convert a password-protected Word file?
No. The page passes no password to LibreOffice, so a file that needs one to open fails with an error. Clear the password in Word, save a copy, and convert that.