Join millions of users who have successfully converted PDFs to Excel files using Acrobat.
Key takeaways.
- Easily convert PDF documents to Excel spreadsheets in seconds with a range of tools, including Adobe Acrobat, for free.
- Converting a PDF to Excel with Acrobat is quick, easy, and reliable – with the result you can expect from the people who made the PDF format. Save time and reduce errors from manual data entry with PDF to Excel conversion tools.
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can help you turn physical documents into PDFs, which can then be converted into Excel spreadsheets.
How to convert PDF to Excel online for free.
It’s easy to convert a PDF document into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for free by using Adobe’s online tools. Simply drag, drop, and convert your PDF into an Excel document in seconds.
Here’s a step-by-step to get you started with the Adobe Acrobat PDF to Excel converter:
- Drag and drop your PDF into the box above or click the Select a file button above.
- Choose the PDF you want to convert to XLSX format.
- Let Acrobat automatically convert your PDF to an editable Excel file.
- Download your spreadsheet or sign in to share it.
Try our free PDF to Excel converter
Our PDF to Excel converter is free, easy to use, and works on any device, allowing you to convert PDFs to Excel files anytime, anywhere.
Convert PDFs into Excel files
It couldn't be easier to turn your PDFs into Excel spreadsheets. Simply drag and drop your file into our PDF to Excel converter, and hey presto. When done, you can download or share easily.
Quickly turn PDFs into XLSX files
Turn a PDF into an Excel file in seconds with the Acrobat PDF converter tool. Acrobat copy your PDF tables and other content into Excel rows and columns that you can easily edit.
Edit your Excel file with ease
Acrobat's online tool has converted your PDF into an Excel spreadsheet. What next? You can easily edit it online using Microsoft Excel for the web. Simply sign in to your Adobe account and get started.
It's easy to download and share your files
What do you want to do with your new Excel file? Download it to your computer or share with colleagues? To get a shareable link, you just need to sign in to your Acrobat account. That way, you can get everyone's feedback on one shared online file.
Choose your platform
Convert and import PDFs to Excel documents using your choice of web browser and operating system, whether you’re using a MacBook, iPad or iPhone on iOS, or a PC or laptop on Windows.
The best PDF to Excel converter around
Adobe invented the PDF file format in the early 1990s – we know it inside out. Try our trusted, user-friendly online PDF tools, offering premium Excel conversion, to work smarter and faster.
What’s the best way to convert a PDF to Excel for free?
There are many ways to convert a PDF to Excel, either in Excel itself or through specialised online PDF to Excel converters, such as Adobe Acrobat.
If you want to keep things in Excel, you can:
- Go to Data
- Choose Get Data
- Select From File
- Then click From PDF
- Excel will then attempt to load the chosen data.
With Adobe Acrobat Online tools, you can convert a PDF into an Excel document with a simple drag, drop, and save. Best of all, it’s completely free. Adobe’s Online PDF to Excel converter is fast, easy, and efficient, with no expertise required.
Why use a PDF to Excel converter?
There are many reasons to use a PDF to Excel converter to transfer information from a PDF into .XLSX format. These benefits include:
- Time saving and efficiency. Converting your PDF to Excel saves you time manually re-entering large datasets or format-warping copy-paste jobs.
- Data accuracy. By turning your PDF into an Excel document, you can ensure data accuracy is maintained, as there are fewer opportunities for human data entry errors.
- OCR compatibility. Some PDF to Excel converter tools feature Optical Character Recognition (OCR) compatibility, which allows the converter to pull data from documents or images.
- Retain structure. PDF to Excel converter tools can automatically map and populate your data into the correct format based on the source file.
- Sorting. PDFs aren’t suited to sorting data – by converting your PDF file to Excel, you can easily organise (and reorganise) important data sets. Add filters and perform complex data analysis without losing the format of your original document.
Key tips when converting a PDF to Excel.
Ready to convert your own PDF documents into Excel files? Ensure things go smoothly with these key tips:
- Convert scanned documents into editable spreadsheets. Tools with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can easily convert scanned PDFs into Excel files ready to be edited. Keep a high-quality OCR document scanner with you at all times with the Adobe Scan mobile app.
- Convert specific data. If you don’t want to convert the entire PDF, you can use the Select Tool to export a specific set of data. Just highlight the table, right-click, and select Export Selection As…
- Check the PDF table structure. Inconsistent rows or columns could result in merged cells, so ensure your document’s layout is clear and readable first.
- Clean merged columns with Excel. Sometimes, data gets merged. With Excel’s Text to Columns feature, found in the Data tab, you can separate text after the conversion.
Questions? We have answers.
Yes, the Adobe Acrobat converter tool transfers your PDF data and content into an editable Excel spreadsheet. You can then work on this high-quality file on your chosen platform, including Mac or Windows.
Want to get the most advanced PDF features? Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro today.
To convert PDF files to Excel on iPhone, simply open this page on your iPhone’s web browser and you’ll be able to convert your documents to XLSX files in just a few taps. You might want to check you have a strong internet connection before you start converting.
You can use the Adobe Acrobat suite of tools from any device, regardless of operating system.
If you want to import PDF data and numbers to Excel, you can use the built-in ‘Get Data’ tool on Excel. All you need to do is:
- Open Excel and go to the ‘Data’ tab.
- Click ‘Get Data from PDF’, then ‘From File’.
- Select ‘From PDF’.
- Choose your PDF and select the data you want to import.
- Click ‘Load’ to pull this directly into your spreadsheet.
Yes, you can copy or extract a table from a PDF to Excel using Excel’s own ‘Get Data’ tool. This allows you to import specific tables and data from a PDF into an Excel spreadsheet.
Simply open Excel and go to Data > Get Data > From File > From PDF. Then select your chosen PDF and the table you want to import into Excel.
You can convert a PDF bank statement to Excel by using Adobe’s online converter or Adobe Acrobat. Just upload your document into the online tool and click ‘Convert’ to change the format of your bank statement to Excel.
In the Acrobat app, just use the ‘Export PDF’ tool and choose ‘Spreadsheet’ as your desired format.
Both XLS and XLSX file formats are Microsoft Excel files. They're essentially the same – an empty Excel sheet with rows and columns. The main difference is that one superseded the other.
XLS is the original Excel file format from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. In 2007, XLS was replaced with XLSX, which was based on the Open XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) standard. From Office 2007 onwards, XLSX became the dominant Excel file.
Yes, you can link to a PDF in Excel directly. Simply navigate to Insert > Object on your chosen spreadsheet. In the new window, stay on the Create New tab and click on Adobe Acrobat Document > Display as icon > OK and locate the PDF you’d like to link to in your Excel.
Once you’ve found the PDF, click OK and position the PDF icon wherever you like. Double-click on the icon in Excel to open the PDF.
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