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Estimated Time to Fix: 3 minutes
Summary
Convert Word documents to PDF and PDF files back to editable Word documents using built-in Microsoft tools. No third-party software required.
Before You Start
- Microsoft Word (desktop app or Word for the web).
- The file you want to convert.
Instructions
1. Convert Word to PDF (Save As)
Save any Word document as a PDF file.
- Open the document in Microsoft Word.
- Click File > Save As (or Save a Copy if the file is on OneDrive).
- Choose where to save the file.
- Click the Save as type dropdown and select PDF (*.pdf).
- Click Save.
The PDF is created in the location you chose. Your original Word document remains unchanged.
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Before converting, click Options in the Save As dialog to control what's included in the PDF. You can choose to export only certain pages, include or exclude comments, and optimize for print quality or smaller file size.
2. Convert Word to PDF (Export)
Write the PDF through File > Export > Create PDF/XPS instead, which gives you more control over the output than Save As.
- Open the document in Word.
- Click File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document.
- Click Create PDF/XPS.
- Choose the save location, name the file, and click Publish.
3. Convert Word to PDF on the Web
Use Word for the web if you don't have the desktop app.
- Open the document in Word for the web at office.com.
- Click File > Save As > Download as PDF.
- The PDF downloads to your browser's default download folder.
4. Convert PDF Back to Word
Open a PDF directly in Word to convert it to an editable document.
- Open Microsoft Word.
- Click File > Open > Browse.
- Navigate to the PDF file and select it.
- Word shows a message that it will convert the PDF to an editable Word document. Click OK.
- Review the converted document and fix any formatting issues.
- Save the file as a Word document: File > Save As > Word Document (*.docx).
WARNING
PDF-to-Word conversion works best on text-heavy documents. Complex PDFs with multi-column layouts, embedded forms, or scanned images may not convert cleanly. For scanned PDFs (which are essentially images), Word may not extract any text at all.
The reason the return trip is the harder direction is structural rather than a shortcoming in Word. A .docx stores paragraphs that reflow when you add a sentence; a PDF stores the position of every character on a finished page, along with the fonts, which is what makes it look identical everywhere and why converting back means rebuilding paragraphs from a set of coordinates. Understanding Document File Formats (.docx, .pdf, and More) covers what each format keeps, what it discards, and which one to send.
5. Verify the Conversion
Confirm the converted file looks correct.
- Open the converted file and review the formatting, fonts, and layout.
- If converting to PDF, open the PDF to confirm all content appears correctly — especially headers, footers, page numbers, and images.
Troubleshooting
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If you need a PDF with smaller file size (for email), choose Minimum size (publishing online) in the Save As options instead of the default Standard (publishing online and printing).
| Symptom / Error | Potential Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| PDF looks different from the Word document | Fonts not embedded | Go to File > Options > Save and check Embed fonts in the file. Re-save as PDF. |
| Hyperlinks don't work in the PDF | Links not preserved during conversion | Use the Export method (Step 2) instead of Save As — it preserves hyperlinks more reliably. |
| PDF-to-Word conversion loses all formatting | Complex PDF layout or scanned document | Try opening the PDF in Microsoft Edge or Adobe Acrobat Reader and copying the text manually. |
| "Word can't open this file" when opening a PDF | PDF is encrypted or password-protected | Open the PDF in a PDF reader first, enter the password, then try converting again. |
| Images missing in the converted PDF | Images linked (not embedded) in the Word doc | Go back to Word, right-click each image, select Save as Picture, then re-insert them. Re-export to PDF. |