Can you convert pdf files to excel files

Even though pasted data in Excel generally requires some cleanup, you have a variety of tools you can use to make the cleanup easier, faster and more precise. Since this blog post isn't about data cleanup, I don't go into any specific methods. However, some of the tools and features that you may find helpful depending on the particular situation are the following:. I may cover some of these topics in future tutorials within Power Spreadsheets.

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Overall, this first method of converting a PDF file to Excel leaves some things to be desired. The following are, in my opinion, its 2 biggest drawbacks:. There are some situations in which you may not have any other option for purposes of converting a PDF file to Excel. This is the case if, for example, you don't have access to any of the tools that are required to apply the other methods that I explain below.

In any case, as long as you have access to a recent version of Microsoft Word or to Word Online, the following method may help you achieve better results when converting a PDF file to Excel. In broad terms, the logic behind converting a PDF file to Excel is the same regardless of which of the above versions of Word you use.

You, basically, follow these 2 simple steps :. In both cases, I use the same sample table as above, which you can find in page 22 of the Working Paper from the European Central Bank titled Inflation forecasts: Are market-based and survey-based measures informative? You can open the PDF file you want to convert using any of several methods , including the following After you've asked Word to open the file, a dialog box such as the one below is displayed. This dialog box informs you about the following:.

As mentioned above, the conversion may take a while, so you may have to wait a little before proceeding to the next step. Once you've completed step 1 and if necessary step 2 above, Word displays the original PDF file as an editable Word document. When you have the editable Word document, select the section that you want to take into Excel.

In the example below, I select the same table as in the previous method:. Once you've selected the relevant information in the editable Word document, copy it. For these purposes, you can use any of the following methods:. By now, you have the information you need in an editable format. Therefore, you can go to Excel and paste it by using, among others, any of the following methods:. In some cases, including this example, the conversion from PDF to Excel isn't perfect.

Notice, for example, how Word hasn't been able to convert the values in the first section of the table Mean error to an editable form. In this case, those values are pasted as an image. Therefore, you must use another method including those described in this Excel tutorial to bring them into Excel before being able to work with them.

If you encounter problems while using Word to convert a PDF file to Excel, you can always try one of the other methods I describe in this blog post. Even though the process for converting a PDF file to Excel using Word Online is substantially similar to that I followed when using the desktop version of Word, there are a few small differences.

Once Word online has opened the PDF file, convert it into an editable document by clicking on the Edit in Word button in the upper part of the screen. Word online displays a dialog box informing you that it will make a copy of the PDF file and convert it into an editable Word document. Confirm by clicking on the Convert button on the lower part of the dialog box. Once Word online has finished the conversion, it displays another dialog box informing you changes in the layout of the PDF file may have occurred.

Click on the Edit button on the lower right corner of the dialog box. Once Word online has converted the PDF file to an editable document, the screen looks roughly as follows. The actual document will most likely be different in your case. Go to the section of the editable document that you want to bring into Excel, and select it.

In the screenshot shown below, I select the same table I use for the previous examples within this Excel tutorial:. If you have problems when trying to copy from Word online, you can use the desktop version of Microsoft Word in your computer to continue with the process.

To do this, click on the Open In Word button that appears to the right of the Ribbon tabs. If you choose to open the editable file in Microsoft Word, the desktop version of Word is launched.

You can then follow the steps I describe in the previous section to copy the relevant data. Once you've copied the data, go back to Excel and paste it by using among others one of the following methods:.

The following screenshot shows the resulting table in Excel after I've adjusted the column width :. Not surprisingly, the results are almost identical as those obtained by opening the PDF file with a recent version of Microsoft Word explained above.

Just as when opening the PDF file with Microsoft Word, you'll notice that the results aren't always perfect although in some cases they will be. In the case of the example displayed above, for example, all the Mean errors first section of the table are pasted as an image. In order to be able to manipulate those values in Excel, you'll need to bring them using another method such as the other ones explained in this blog post or type them directly in Excel.

If you have to constantly convert PDF files to Excel or want to avoid the shortcomings of the other 2 methods described above, it may be a good idea to use a PDF converter. Even if you don't end up using Able2Extract, you may want to steer clear of online PDF conversion services when converting sensitive or confidential PDF files.

As when explaining the other methods above, I use the table within the European Central Bank Working Paper titled Inflation forecasts: Are market-based and survey-based measures informative?

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