Import PDF to Excel: Import PDF Data and Tables Into a Spreadsheet
Excel's built-in Get Data from PDF only shows up in Microsoft 365 and a few recent builds, it skips scanned files, and it dumps the whole document on you. PDFXLSX imports the tables and numbers from any PDF in your browser, no matter which Excel version you run, and hands back a clean spreadsheet. Drop a file on the right to try it.
Works in any browser, opens in any Excel. Your first import is free and files are deleted after processing.
Drop your PDF here or click to browse
PDF files up to 50MB
Any Excel version, scans included. First file free.
Any version
No 365 required
OCR
Reads scanned PDFs
Tables
Mapped, not pasted
Numeric
Ready to total
Why Excel's built-in PDF import falls short
Newer copies of Excel have a Data, Get Data, From File, From PDF command that pulls tables out of a PDF through Power Query. When it is there and the table is clean, it does a reasonable job. The trouble is how often one of those conditions is missing.
The From PDF connector only ships with Microsoft 365 and a handful of recent builds. Excel 2013, 2010, and 2007 do not have it at all, 2016 and 2019 often need an update before it appears, and Excel for Mac does not include it. It also has no OCR, so a scanned statement comes in as a picture you cannot sort. On top of that it loads the entire file rather than the one table you wanted, and it cannot take a folder of PDFs in one pass.
PDFXLSX sidesteps all of that. You import the PDF in your browser, so the version of Excel on your machine does not matter. It detects the real table structure, applies OCR to scans, and gives back an XLSX or CSV that opens cleanly in whatever spreadsheet you use.
| Date | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 01/08 | Opening balance | 12,480.00 |
| 01/12 | Deposit 2284 | 3,150.00 |
| 01/19 | Card payment | -642.18 |
| 01/27 | Wire transfer | -1,500.00 |
Each value sits in its own cell and the Amount column is true numbers, so a SUM works the moment the file opens, no Text to Columns step.
Ways to import a PDF into Excel, compared
An honest look at what each method needs and where it leaves you with cleanup.
| Method | Works in any Excel? | Handles scans? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel From PDF (Power Query) | No | No | Needs Microsoft 365 or a recent build, missing in 2013 and older and on Mac, and loads the whole file. |
| Copy and paste | Yes | No | Text lands in one column and arrives as text, so you reformat almost everything by hand. |
| Insert as object | Yes | No | Embeds the PDF as a picture inside the sheet. You can look at it, but you cannot sort or total it. |
| Installed desktop programs | Yes | Usually | Capable, but a paid license to buy and a program to install and keep updated. |
| PDFXLSX in your browser | Yes | Yes | No install or 365, reads real tables, OCR on scans, and exports a clean XLSX or CSV. |
If you do have Microsoft 365 on Windows, Excel's From PDF is worth keeping for quick, clean tables. For everything else, the browser route covers the gaps. The everyday PDF to Excel converter uses the same engine.
What you get when you import a PDF here
The pieces Excel's built-in import leaves out.
Works with any Excel version
The import runs in the browser, so it does not matter whether you have Microsoft 365, Excel 2016, an older perpetual copy, or Excel for Mac. The XLSX you download opens in all of them, and in Google Sheets and Numbers too.
Reads the real table
It finds the table structure and maps each value to the right cell instead of guessing columns from spacing. Rows stay whole, headers line up, and the numbers land where they belong.
OCR for scanned PDFs
Excel's From PDF cannot read a scan, because a scan is an image. Built-in OCR turns scanned PDFs and photos of documents into rows you can sort and total.
Numbers come in numeric
Amounts with commas, currency symbols, or negatives in parentheses arrive as real numbers, not text. You can SUM and build formulas right away, with no Convert to Number cleanup column by column.
Import several PDFs at once
The built-in connector takes one file at a time. Here you can send a stack of PDFs together and pull them into spreadsheets in a single pass. See batch PDF to Excel for high-volume work.
Private and secure
The PDFs you import are often statements and reports. Uploads are encrypted in transit and at rest, processed in isolation, and deleted automatically once your spreadsheet is ready. Nothing is kept or reused.
How to import a PDF into Excel
Three steps, and no add-in to install first.
Upload the PDF
Drag the file into the box at the top or pick it from your computer. Digital and scanned PDFs both work, and you can send several at once.
It maps the table
The converter detects the table, applies OCR where a page is a scan, and keeps numbers numeric and dates as dates instead of dumping the whole document.
Open it in Excel
Download an XLSX or CSV and open it in any version of Excel, ready to total and filter. Your file is deleted right after.
Who imports PDFs into Excel
Anyone who gets data as a PDF but needs it in a spreadsheet, and does not always have the newest Excel to do it.
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Accountants and bookkeepers pulling statements and reports into working papers. See the workflows for accountants and bookkeepers.
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Finance and operations teams on locked-down or older Office installs where Get Data from PDF was never enabled. See PDF to Excel for finance teams.
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Mac users whose Excel has no From PDF command at all. The browser import gives them the same result. See PDF to Excel on Mac.
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Anyone with a scanned PDF that Excel's import treats as a picture, where OCR is the only way to get usable rows.
On Windows with Microsoft 365?
If you do have the From PDF connector and the table is clean, it is a fine first try. The browser import is there for the files it cannot handle: scans, complex multi-table pages, and batches of documents.
See PDF to Excel on Windows for how the two compare.
Import PDF to Excel: common questions
Upload the PDF into the tool at the top of this page, let it detect the table and apply OCR if the file is a scan, then download a clean XLSX or CSV and open it in Excel. In Microsoft 365 on Windows you can also try Data, Get Data, From File, From PDF, though that route needs a recent build and cannot read scans.
Yes, but only in Microsoft 365 and some recent builds through the From PDF connector. Excel 2013 and earlier, many 2016 and 2019 installs, and Excel for Mac do not have it, and even where it exists it ignores scanned files. Importing in the browser works regardless of your Excel version and reads scans through OCR.
The most common reason is that your Excel does not have the From PDF connector. It ships with Microsoft 365 and recent builds, so on Excel 2013, 2010, 2007, or Excel for Mac the option simply is not there. A scanned PDF also will not import, because there is no text to read. Both cases are solved by importing in the browser instead.
Upload the PDF here and the converter finds the table and maps it cell for cell, so the columns and rows match the original. Download the result as XLSX and the grid drops straight into your sheet with numbers ready to total. To pull only the grids from a mixed document, the PDF table extractor does the same job.
Excel 2016 may import a PDF only after Office is updated, and even then the connector is not guaranteed; Excel 2013, 2010, and 2007 cannot do it at all. Rather than chase an update, import the PDF in your browser and open the XLSX in the version you already run. The output file is a standard spreadsheet that every Excel release reads.
It is safe when the tool encrypts your files and deletes them after the import, which this one does. Uploads are encrypted in transit and at rest, processed in isolation, and removed automatically once your spreadsheet is ready. Nothing is stored long term, shared, or reused, so even sensitive financial documents stay private.
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Import a PDF into Excel now
Drop a PDF at the top of the page and download a clean XLSX or CSV that opens in any version of Excel, with the columns mapped and the numbers ready to total. Your first import is free. For everyday files, start with the PDF to Excel converter, or convert an accurate PDF to Excel when the figures have to tie out.