Convert a PDF to Google Docs

Google Docs cannot edit a PDF as it is. Convert the PDF to a Word file here, then open that file in Google Docs and it becomes a Doc with your headings, paragraphs and lists. No account here, nothing to install, deleted within 24 hours.

Choose PDF or drop it here PDF up to 25 MB and 16 pages 5 free a day

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How to convert a PDF to Google Docs

  1. Choose your PDFClick Choose PDF, or drag the file onto this page. Up to 16 pages.
  2. Download the Word fileHeadings, paragraphs, lists and tables come back as text you can edit.
  3. Open it in Google DocsUpload the .docx to Google Drive and double-click it. To make it a Doc you can share, choose File, then Save as Google Docs.

Two ways to get a PDF into Google Docs

Google's own route. Upload the PDF to Google Drive, right-click it, choose Open with, then Google Docs. Docs recovers the text, and on a scanned PDF it reads the words with text recognition. The layout is simplified heavily: a multi-column page, a form or a table comes back as text in roughly the right order rather than as the page you had, so it suits short, plain documents.

The Word route, on this page. Convert the PDF to a Word file here, then open that file from Google Drive. Google Docs reads Word files, so the headings, lists, tables and pictures arrive as things you can edit, and File, then Save as Google Docs turns the file into a Doc. Google Docs lays the pages out again, so a page break can move.

Over 16 pages, or a scan longer than 6 pages? Use Google's route for the whole file, or split the PDF first with the free Split PDF tool and convert each part here.

What you get

Text you can edit
Click anywhere and type. The words move over to make room, just like in any Word document. Nothing is stuck in place.
The same pages
Page 3 of your PDF is still page 3 in Word, so page numbers and printouts still match.
Deleted soon after
Your PDF is deleted as soon as it has been converted. The Word file is deleted 30 minutes later, or right away if you press Delete it now. Our privacy page

Common questions

Yes. Upload the PDF to Google Drive, right-click it and choose Open with, then Google Docs. It recovers the text, including from a scan, but simplifies the layout. For a document with headings, tables or pictures, converting to a Word file first and opening that file in Google Docs keeps more of the structure.

Through the Word file, headings, paragraphs, lists, tables and pictures come through as editable Docs content. Google Docs lays the pages out again in its own page size and fonts, so page breaks can move and a font the Mac or PC had may be substituted.

For Google Docs itself, yes. The converter on this page needs no account: up to 5 PDFs a day, each up to 16 pages, and your files are deleted within 24 hours.

Yes. You can convert up to 5 PDFs a day, each up to 16 pages and 25 MB, with no account.

It is sent to our server to be converted. Your PDF is deleted as soon as the conversion is done, and the Word file 30 minutes later, or right away if you press Delete it now. Our privacy page has the details.

Letters, contracts, reports and minutes come back with their headings, paragraphs and lists, on the same pages as your PDF. Tables, pictures and columns come through too, but check them against your PDF before you rely on them.

Yes, on request, for PDFs up to 6 pages. A scanned PDF is a photo of each page, so the converter offers to read the words with OCR, about 20 seconds a page. You get your pages as pictures straight away and editable text when the reading finishes. Check names, numbers and dates, because OCR can mix up similar characters. The page layout is not reproduced: tables and pictures stay as pictures, and form boxes and rules are not carried over. Our guide to scanned PDFs explains more.

Split it into parts of 16 pages or fewer with the free Split PDF tool, which runs in your browser, then convert each part.

Not while the password is on. Open the PDF in a viewer, save a copy without the password, then convert that copy.

Helpful guides

Why some PDFs convert badly, and what to do about it.

Start here · 12 min

How to convert a PDF to Word

Two ways that work, why some conversions go wrong, and what to do when the text will not move, a table will not edit, or the pages shift.
9 min

How to edit a PDF in Word

Word can open a PDF on its own. What to do when the text it gives you will not let you edit it, and three ways to fix that.

 10 min

Converting a scanned PDF

A scan has no text inside it. How text recognition gets the words back, which letters it mixes up, and why numbers need the most checking.

Free tools that run in your browser

These do other PDF jobs right in your browser. Your file never leaves your computer, which helps when a document is private.

Free browser tool Compress a PDF Free browser tool Redact a PDF properly Free browser tool Split a PDF Free browser tool Strip Word metadata