What DOCX is
DOCX is the file format of Microsoft Word since Word 2007, based on the Office Open XML standard. A .docx file is a compressed package of XML files that describe text, styles, images and tables. It is smaller and more robust than the old .doc format, and it is read by all current word processors: Microsoft Word on Windows and Mac, Word on the web, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apple Pages and the Office apps on phones. When someone asks for "a Word file", DOCX is what they expect.
How PDF to DOCX conversion works
A PDF does not store paragraphs. It stores where each letter, line and image is drawn on the page. The converter reads these positions and reconstructs the structure: it joins letters into words and lines, lines into paragraphs, detects columns and tables, and places images. The result is a DOCX with normal paragraphs and real tables that you can edit as if the document had been written in Word.
Documents created on a computer, such as reports, letters, invoices and CVs, convert best. For brochures and designed pages with text in many boxes, the DOCX keeps the look, but editing may take more work.
Scanned PDFs and OCR
If a PDF was made by a scanner or phone camera, it contains only images. The tool checks for this. Scanned pages are recognized with OCR on our server, in up to four languages. The DOCX then contains the recognized text as editable paragraphs. Tables, table lines and pictures of the scan are kept as well; only the fonts, colours and text styles are not recognized.
Tips
- After conversion, check headers, footers and page numbers; Word may place them slightly differently.
- If a font looks different, the original font is not installed on your computer. Choose a similar font in Word.
- For spreadsheet-like data, PDF to Excel gives a better result.
- Need the old Word format for an old program? Use PDF to DOC. For general use, see PDF to Word.
Privacy and limits
The conversion runs on our own server. Your PDF is uploaded over an encrypted HTTPS connection, converted and deleted right after; the DOCX is kept for 15 minutes at most. Each file can have up to 100 MB and 500 pages. Password-protected PDFs are converted after you enter the password. To turn the edited DOCX back into a PDF, use DOCX to PDF.