PDF to Excel

Worth knowing

• The file never leaves your computer. Every one of these tools runs inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy on a server, nothing to delete afterwards and no queue of other people’s documents next to yours.
• Columns come from geometry, not from lines. Most PDF tables have no table structure inside them at all — they are text placed at coordinates that happen to line up. Columns are inferred from those repeated positions, which is why a table with no borders converts just as well as one with them.
• Cell styling is kept. Column widths, background fills, bold and font sizes come across, so the sheet still reads like the table it came from.
• A scan has no table to find. This reads the text layer. A photographed or scanned page has none, and there is no OCR here, so nothing can be extracted from it.
• Check the totals. A table whose columns run into each other, or one with merged cells spanning several columns, can be split in the wrong place. It is worth checking one row of numbers against the PDF before you rely on the sheet.

When to use it

• Getting a bank or supplier statement into a spreadsheet so you can sort and total it.
• Reusing a price list that you only have as a PDF.
• Checking an invoice's line items against your own records in Excel or Google Sheets.

Questions

Can it convert a scanned PDF to Excel?

No. It reads the PDF's text layer, and a scan has none, so there is nothing to put into cells.

Does it work for tables without borders?

Usually, yes. Columns are worked out from where the text sits on the page, not from drawn lines.

Should I check the result?

Yes, briefly. Tables with merged cells or columns that run into each other can be split in the wrong place, so compare one row against the PDF before relying on the totals.