How To Convert PDF to Excel Without Software

Back when I started, editing PDFs was a puzzle. It seemed like an impossible task – I couldn't figure out how to make any changes. At one point, I even believed it was impossible. 

But now, I've learned a trick: by converting PDFs into Excel sheets, editing them has become a breeze.

In this tutorial, let me explain how to convert PDF to Excel without software and very few easy steps. I will not be going into an explanation about all of the free online resources, programs, and adapters that are available for converting PDF documents to Excel spreadsheets. In addition to this, if you want to excel in your Excel skills, you can go through free Excel online certification courses.

Read to get a complete understanding of how to convert PDF to Excel without additional software.

What is a PDF?

We use PDFs  daily, don’t we? Let us understand what a PDF is first so that it may get easier for you to learn ‘how to change PDF to Excel’ without the use of any external software.

Built and developed by Adobe, PDF (Portable Document Format) is a customizable and versatile file format that renders it easy and trustworthy for users to send and exchange paper-based documents that are not linked with any hardware, software, or operating system. 

PDF documents may contain any file format that can be viewed, printed, or forwarded by the user. It may contain images, links, text, and so on. You can also add interactive features such as form, input, buttons, video, or sound buttons to make the PDF more effective and useful 

3 Methods of Converting PDF to Excel Without Software

Online Excel tutorials were a lifesaver when I first started as a techie. But, despite master formulas, functions, and shortcuts, converting a PDF into an Excel sheet proved challenging. Although there are a lot of PDF converters and applications that can help you do this, it’s also important to learn how to convert PDF to Excel files without the use of any software.

With years of experience, I have curated this brief guide so that I could explain how to convert PDF to Excel without software. Let me illustrate the 3 most easy methods of doing so.

Method 1: Manual Copy Paste Method To Convert PDF To Excel Without Software 

I feel this is the easiest way of converting a PDF to an Excel sheet which is the manual copy-paste method. Just follow these few simple steps to successfully convert a PDF to an Excel sheet:

1. To convert a PDF document into an Excel sheet, just select the entire content that you want to convert with the help of the mouse cursor or press CTRL+A. 

2. Then move on to the Excel application and open a new Excel spreadsheet.
3. Go to the toolbar on top of the Excel worksheet and select the option of ‘paste special’. You can also use it.CTRL+V to paste the entire copied content in the Excel sheet if you wish to skip the ‘paste special’ option. 

4. The window titled ‘paste special’ will appear where you need to select the option of ‘paste as text’ and then click on the OK button.

5. Excel simply pastes the matter you copied without maintaining any layout or structure whatsoever. The illustration below demonstrates the way Excel pastes all the data into just one column. This is a major drawback of this method of converting PDF into an Excel file.

Additionally, this method is not desirable if you wish to copy a large amount of data and transfer it into an Excel file. In that case, this method will be inconvenient. However, in cases where you have to transfer a small amount of data, you can easily go with this method.

Method 2: Using Microsoft Word To Convert PDF To Excel Without Software 

Another convenient method that can give you an answer to how to convert PDF to Excel without software is by using Microsoft Word. 

One of the most challenging assignments in a PDF file is to edit or restructure it. You can only complete the task of converting a PDF into an Excel file if only your PDF file has given you access to edit it. You have to gain edit access before you can copy and paste the content into your Excel spreadsheets. 

To know how to import data from PDF to Excel, you can use Microsoft Word as an instrument for mediating the content of the PDF to Excel file.

Let me walk you through a step-by-step guide to converting a PDF document to an Excel file by using Microsoft Word:

1. Open the Microsoft Word application on your system and go to ‘File’ and click on ‘open’. 

2. Then right-click on the PDF, select the option of ‘open with’, and go for Microsoft Word.

3. Go to the directory on your device and select the appropriate PDF document and then click on ‘open’.

4. The Excel worksheet will return a message indicating that there may be deviations in the outcomes when Microsoft Word edits and converts a PDF document to an editable Word file. Click on ‘OK’ and proceed.

5. After a few minutes, Microsoft Word fetches the copied content and presents it in an editable Word file. 

6. After you get the entire data in Microsoft Word, just copy the entire content using a mouse cursor or CTRL+A and CTRL+C.

7. Go to your Excel application, launch a blank Excel spreadsheet, and simply paste the copied content there by clicking on the ‘paste’ option or using CTRL+V.

If you compare both conversion approaches, then you will notice that the data structure employed in this approach is extremely similar to the source of the initial data. Whereas the previous method changed the data format and made it entirely into one column. 

So, we can see that it’s much more effective and convenient to generate modifiable PDF documents using Microsoft Word rather than manually copying and pasting the data into Excel spreadsheets. 

Method 3: Employing Get Data Command To Convert PDF To Excel Without Software

This is my absolute favorite method to convert PDF to XLS. In my years of work experience in the tech field. I have mostly used it whenever there arose a question of how to export PDF to Excel. This method does not change the format of the data and also keeps it intact the way it was in the original PDF document. 

The get data function in Excel enables you to access and obtain data from third-party sources. The information tab incorporates the get-data functionality.

Let me help you understand how to convert PDF to Excel without software using the get data command:

1. Open a blank Excel worksheet and go to the ‘data’ option. There, you will see a section named ‘get and transform data’. From there, select the option of ‘get data’. 

2. Then select the intended PDF that you want to convert from the section of ‘from PDF’.

3. The Excel application will open your device directory. To import the particular PDF document into the Excel worksheet, opt for it and select ‘import’.

4. Your Excel worksheet will display a navigator window from where you can select any page under the ‘display options’. if you wish to choose more than one item, you can easily do so by enabling multiple selections. Your Excel spreadsheet presents a sneak peek at how the retrieved information could potentially appear. 

5. If your PDF document contains one page, then the Excel spreadsheet will also appear as a one-page file. However, if you want to import more than one page, then the Excel spreadsheet will also preview multiple pages. 

6. The power query editor opens up when you opt for the ‘transfer data’ option. Select ‘home’ in the power query editor panel and click on ‘close and load’ to close the intended window and load the particular items.

7. Lastly, by performing the above-mentioned steps, your Excel worksheet will load all the intended items in the form of a table as has been illustrated below. 

Now let me tell you why this has been the most widely used form of fetching data from PDF to Excel. This is because it can deal with huge amounts of data as well as it does not change the original format of data. As you can see, it will fetch you the same data in an Excel sheet as it was there in the PDF document. 

Which Method Should I Choose?

So now you have the answer to the question, “How do you change PDF to Excel”, right? 

In my experience, when it comes to converting PDFs to Excel, Method 3 emerges as the most reliable choice. While Method 1 offers convenience, it often disrupts the formatting and structure of the data, requiring additional effort to restore it to its original state. On the other hand, Method 3 allows for a direct copy of the content without altering its integrity, providing the flexibility to modify the data within the Excel spreadsheet as needed. Although Method 2 handles large datasets effectively and maintains some resemblance to the original PDF, it doesn't match the precision and convenience offered by Method 3. Over the years, I've found Method 3 to be consistently dependable, making it my preferred method for PDF to Excel conversions.

Wrapping Up

Once you begin your career journey, you will often find yourself in a position where you will need to extract data from PDF files frequently. Hence, this tutorial on how to convert PDF to Excel without software will be nothing but beneficial to you. To wrap things up, remember the three methods you can employ to convert PDF documents to Excel records; copy-paste method, using Microsoft Word, and using a data command by Excel. 

If you wish to learn more about Excel spreadsheets and their working structure in detail, then you may look up to upGrad as it offers various dynamic and interactive courses that can help excel in your professional life.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I convert a PDF to Excel manually?

To know how to convert PDF to Excel without software, you can use three easy methods: using the manual copy-paste method, employing Microsoft Word, or using the popular get command technique. Employing the get command method is the most convenient one.

2. Is there a free way to convert PDF to Excel?

You can convert PDF to Excel files for free without using any third-party software. You can do so by using the manual copy-paste method, by employing Microsoft Word, or by using the get command approach. These methods are free.

3. How do I convert a PDF to Excel offline without software?

By using the get command technique, you can easily convert a PDF to an Excel document offline without the use of any software. This is the most suitable approach in this regard and you can do so by following a few simple steps.

4. How do I convert Excel to PDF directly?

You need to save your Excel worksheet as a PDF to convert the Excel document into a PDF file. Click on the top left corner of the screen and choose the option of ‘save as’. There, save the Excel worksheet as a PDF.