PDF to Excel
A PDF's text, line by line, in a sheet.
PDF to Excel runs on our secure server
- Encrypted upload
- Your file is uploaded directly to short-lived object storage over a pre-signed URL.
- Safety checks
- Each file is checked before any processor sees it: an empty file, a file whose type contradicts its name or this tool, or a PDF with no PDF header is refused. Whether a malware scan runs as well is reported by the live server, and shows here once this page has heard from it.
- Processing
- A separate processing server — not this website — fetches your file from that storage and does the work.
- Download
- You get a signed, expiring link to the result — no account required.
- Auto-delete
- Inputs are wiped right after processing; outputs auto-delete within the retention window.
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About this tool
A PDF’s selectable text in an XLSX sheet: a row per line, cells split at tabs and wide gaps and kept in their column. For tables, use Extract Tables.
Files are processed on a secure server, which deletes the upload when the job ends and serves the result for a limited time.
More details
PDF to Excel reads the selectable text of one PDF and writes it into a single worksheet, named "Extracted text", inside an XLSX workbook. The text is pulled with poppler's pdftotext in layout mode, which pads each line with spaces so a printed table row keeps gaps between its columns. Each non-empty line becomes one spreadsheet row, split into cells at tabs and runs of two or more spaces; a single space or a comma never starts a new cell. Rows that line up are treated as one table, and each value goes in the column it sits in on the page, so an empty cell stays empty. Pages follow one another with no blank row between them, so page headers, footers and page numbers printed as text end up among the data rows.
This is layout placement, not table detection: ruling lines and cell borders are ignored and merged cells are not rebuilt. Where one cell runs across a column boundary, or a table starts on a page's first line, columns can merge — check them against the PDF. An amount or a percentage such as 1,250.00, $4.20 or 15% is stored as a number a formula can add up, and the comma inside it never splits it; a date such as 2026-01-05, a European-style 1.250,00, a negative in brackets and a code with leading zeros stay text. To pull individual tables out of a page, Extract Tables finds each table by where its words sit and exports it on its own.
Poppler is a native program that a browser cannot run, so the export happens on pdf.xyz's secure server and each run takes one PDF of at most 100 MB, sent over TLS. Our server deletes your PDF when the export job finishes. Your workbook can be fetched from its link for 60 minutes, and once that link has expired a daily storage rule erases the stored XLSX.
When to use it
Getting a statement's amounts into a sheet you can total
Amounts printed as 1,250.00, $4.20 or 15% arrive as numbers in the column they sat in on the page, so SUM adds them up without converting anything, and the comma in an amount never splits it.
Pulling a spaced-out listing into rows
Parts lists, timetables and directories laid out with wide gaps between columns convert line for line, each value in the column it sits in, so you filter rows instead of retyping them.
Taking a scanned sheet through OCR first
A photographed or scanned page has no text to export. Run it through OCR PDF with the language the page is written in, choose a searchable PDF as the result, and bring that file here.
What this tool can do
- Cells
- Every line of text becomes a row, and each value goes in the column it sits in on the page, so an empty cell stays empty. Where one cell runs across a column boundary, or a table starts on a page's first line, columns can merge — check them against the PDF.
- Tables
- For tables detected by their layout, exported as CSV and Excel files, use Extract Tables.
How it works
1Pick the PDF to convert
The box is there from the start, but its Export button stays off while our server is unavailable, and the panel offers "Notify me when this ships" instead; once the badge reads "Secure server", the button works. Drag a PDF onto the box that reads "Add your PDF, or", or click browse in it. The chosen file's name replaces the box, with a Remove button beside it for undoing a wrong pick.
2Press Export XLSX
A PDF larger than 100 MB is refused as soon as you pick it, before its bytes leave your device. Otherwise pressing Export XLSX uploads it: the button reads "Uploading your file…", then "Waiting for our server…", "Exporting XLSX…" while our server converts it, and "Downloading the result…" until the finished XLSX is sitting in the page. A PDF with no selectable text stops here, with an error asking you to run OCR first and a link to OCR PDF.
3Save the workbook
When "Your XLSX file is ready." appears, press the button under it that starts with Download and ends with the file name: your PDF's name, with .xlsx in place of .pdf. The workbook is already held by the page, so the button saves it straight to your device.
4Tidy the sheet
Check dates, codes and any other values that stayed text, delete rows that came from page headers and footers, and compare any merged columns against the PDF.
Common questions
Will my table's rows and columns line up?
Usually, when the rows line up on the page. Each value goes in the column it sits in, so a blank cell stays blank and the values after it stay under their own headings. A cell whose text wraps onto a second printed line gives you two rows, and two columns printed one space apart stay in a single cell. Where one cell runs across a column boundary, or a table starts on a page's first line, columns can merge — check them against the PDF.
Will SUM work on my numbers?
For amounts and percentages written like 1,250.00, $4.20 or 15%, yes: each is stored as a number. Dates such as 2026-01-05, European-style 1.250,00, negatives in brackets, codes with leading zeros and numbers longer than 15 significant digits stay text, so convert those columns before summing.
How is this different from Extract Tables?
PDF to Excel puts every line of the PDF's text in one sheet and places each value in the column it sits in, so headings, paragraphs and footers come along with any tables. Extract Tables looks for tables by where the words sit, keeps only regions that read as a grid of values, and hands back a ZIP holding a CSV per table and one workbook with a sheet for each; a page can hold several tables. Choose it when you want the tables alone.
Does it work on scanned PDFs or password-protected files?
A fully scanned PDF holds only pictures of its pages, so the job is refused with a message that there is no selectable text and a link to OCR PDF. If only some pages are scans, the export succeeds, and the result says how many pages had text and names the ones that had none (up to 50, then a count of the rest), so you can run OCR PDF on them. A PDF that needs a password to open is refused with a message saying it is password-protected and a link to Unlock PDF, which asks for that password; convert the copy it returns.
Are formatting, formulas and very wide rows kept?
Fonts, colours, borders, images and cell sizes are not carried over, and a PDF holds no formulas to recover; nothing in the sheet becomes a formula. Wide lines are not cut off: columns continue past Z to AA, AB and beyond.
Who holds my PDF and the workbook, and until when?
Your PDF reaches pdf.xyz's secure server over TLS and is deleted as soon as the export job is over. The link the XLSX is served from lasts 60 minutes; once it lapses, a daily storage rule clears the workbook from storage.
How large can my file be?
Up to 100 MB per file.
How does PDF to Excel lay out the spreadsheet?
In one sheet, named “Extracted text”. Each line of the PDF's selectable text becomes a row, split into cells at tabs and runs of two or more spaces, and each cell goes in the column where its text sits on the line, so an empty cell stays empty. A comma never splits a cell, and an amount or a percentage, such as 1,250.00, $4.20 or 15%, is stored as a number a formula can add up. A date such as 2026-01-05 stays text, and nothing becomes a formula. Where one cell runs across a column boundary, or a table starts on a page's first line, columns can merge — check them against the PDF.
Should I use PDF to Excel or Extract Tables?
For a table on its own, Extract Tables: it looks for tables by where the text sits on the page and exports each one it finds. PDF to Excel puts every line of the PDF's text in one sheet, placing each value in the column it sits in, so it suits getting all of the text into a grid rather than pulling one table out.
Can PDF to Excel convert a scanned PDF?
Not directly. A scanned page is a picture with no selectable text: a PDF with none at all is refused rather than exported empty, and in a PDF that mixes the two, the scanned pages come through with no text. Run the scan through OCR PDF first, then export the result.
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