You go to import a PDF, click the Data tab, and the From PDF option is not there. That feature is part of Power Query's PDF connector, and Microsoft ships it only in Microsoft 365 and Excel 2024 for Windows. If you run Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, or Excel for Mac, the button is missing, and no update will add it to a perpetual license. The good news is you can still get a PDF table into a spreadsheet without paying for a 365 subscription. This guide walks through the methods that work on any version, when each one is worth using, and where they fall short.
The converter at the top of this page does the job in your browser with no Excel version requirement at all, so try your file there first. The steps below cover the built-in and manual routes for when you want to stay inside Excel.
Can you import a PDF into Excel without Microsoft 365?
Yes. Excel's native From PDF connector needs Microsoft 365 or Excel 2024, but you do not need either to move a PDF table into a spreadsheet. You can open the PDF in Word to recover the table, copy and paste the data directly, or run the file through a browser converter that exports a clean XLSX. Each path works on Excel 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel for Mac.
The difference is how much cleanup you do afterward. The built-in connector, where available, lines columns up automatically. The manual routes get the data in but usually need some straightening, especially on tables with merged cells or numbers that arrive as text.
Why is Get Data From PDF missing in my Excel?
The From PDF option is missing because your version does not include it. Microsoft added the PDF connector to Power Query in 2020 and limited it to Microsoft 365 and, later, Excel 2024 on Windows. Perpetual licenses like Office 2019 and Office 2016 never received it, and they will not, because Microsoft gates new Power Query connectors to the subscription product.
Excel for Mac is the other common case. Even on a current Mac build, the PDF connector is limited or absent, which is why Mac users so often see guides that point straight to a converter. If you are on a Mac, the browser route is usually the fastest path, and our PDF to Excel converter for Mac page covers the macOS specifics.
How do I import a PDF into Excel 2016 or 2019?
Use one of three routes, since the From PDF connector is not available in these versions. Open the PDF in Microsoft Word, which converts it to editable text, then copy the table and paste it into Excel. Or select the table inside your PDF reader, copy it, and paste into a sheet. Or convert the PDF to XLSX first and open the result, which avoids manual cleanup entirely.
Of the three, opening the PDF in Word tends to preserve table structure best for text-based PDFs, because Word rebuilds the rows and columns rather than dumping everything into one cell. Plain copy and paste is faster for a small block of numbers but often collapses a table into a single column. For anything large or repeated, a converter saves the most time.
How do I import a PDF into Excel on a Mac?
On a Mac, skip the built-in route and convert the file instead. Excel for Mac does not offer a reliable From PDF connector, and Apple Numbers cannot import a PDF at all, so the methods that work on Windows perpetual versions are your best options here too: open the PDF in Word for Mac and copy the table, or run the file through a browser converter that returns an XLSX you open in Excel for Mac or Numbers.
The browser approach has one extra advantage on a Mac: it does not depend on which Office build you have, and it works the same in Safari or Chrome. If your source file is a scanned image rather than a text PDF, you also need optical character recognition, which the manual Mac methods do not provide. Our OCR PDF to Excel converter handles scanned pages.
Can I use Microsoft Word to get a PDF table into Excel?
Yes, and it is the most reliable free method for text-based PDFs. Right-click the PDF, choose Open with Word, and let Word convert it to an editable document. Word reconstructs the table as a real table, so when you copy it and paste into Excel the rows and columns usually land in the right cells instead of collapsing into one column.
The limits are worth knowing. Word struggles with complex multi-table layouts and can shift columns on dense financial statements, and it cannot read a scanned PDF that is really an image. Numbers may also paste as text, so you may need Excel's Text to Columns or a Convert to Number step afterward. For a one-off table it is fine. For a stack of statements every month, the manual cleanup adds up fast.
What is the easiest way to import a PDF into Excel without 365?
The easiest route that works on every version is to convert the PDF to an Excel file first, then just open it. A converter reads the table structure directly, keeps numbers numeric so you can total them, and runs OCR on scans, none of which the free manual methods do consistently. You open the finished XLSX in whatever Excel you already own, 2013 through 2024, or on a Mac.
This is the same reason businesses on locked-down or older Office installs reach for a tool rather than fighting the built-in feature they do not have. If you want to stay in Excel for occasional tables, Word and copy-paste are free and fine. If accuracy and time matter, convert first. You can compare every method on our import PDF to Excel page, and the accurate PDF to Excel converter shows why structure-aware conversion beats spacing-based guessing.
One more note for finance work. If the PDF you are importing is a bank statement, a tool built for that document type will read the running balance and transaction columns more cleanly than a general importer; a dedicated bank statement to Excel converter is purpose-built for it. And if those transactions are headed into your books rather than a spreadsheet, you can convert the statement straight into accounting-ready data with a bank statement to QuickBooks converter instead of importing to Excel as a middle step. The right starting point depends on where the numbers need to end up.