Runs on this device

Turn a Word document into a PDF

Reads your .docx and lays it out as a PDF on your own device. The text, headings, lists, simple tables and pictures come across; Word's exact pagination does not, and this page says so rather than pretending.

    How to turn a Word file into a PDF

    1. Choose your .docx file. The conversion starts on its own.
    2. The document is read and laid out page by page on your device.
    3. Open the PDF and read it before you send it. The line breaks are this tool's, not Word's.

    What this carries across, and what it cannot

    A .docx is a ZIP of XML. It records what the text is and how it is styled — bold, italic, headings, lists, tables, the pictures you placed. What it does not record is where the lines break or where one page ends and the next begins. Word works that out when it opens the file, using its own layout engine and the fonts on that machine.

    So nothing in your browser can reproduce Word's pagination exactly, and a tool claiming otherwise is claiming something the format does not contain. This lays the document out afresh: text, headings, bold and italic, bullet and numbered lists, simple tables and inline pictures, on A4 with ordinary margins. Expect the same words in the same order, and expect the pages to fall differently.

    What it will not carry: columns, text boxes, floating images, headers and footers, footnotes, merged table cells, and fonts other than the standard ones. If any of those are load-bearing in your document, this is the wrong tool and the next paragraph is the right answer.

    That answer is print to PDF. Word, LibreOffice, Pages and Google Docs all export a PDF that is exact, free and already on your machine, and no browser tool will beat it. This page is for the times that path is not open: a file someone emailed you, a phone, a borrowed computer, a machine with no word processor on it.

    Nothing is uploaded, which is the usual reason to be here. A CV, a contract or a covering letter is exactly the kind of document that should not be handed to a stranger's server to be converted.

    Questions about Word to PDF

    Will the PDF look exactly like my Word document?

    No, and be wary of any browser tool that says it will. A .docx does not record where its lines and pages break — Word decides that when it opens the file. The words, their order and their styling come across; the pagination is laid out afresh. For an exact copy, print to PDF from Word itself.

    Why does it say my file is not a Word document?

    Most often because it is a .doc, the older format, which is a completely different thing inside and not a ZIP of XML at all. Open it in Word and save a copy as .docx. The same message appears for a file that is damaged.

    Does it handle my language?

    Only if the characters are ones the PDF standard fonts can draw, which covers the Latin alphabets and little else. For Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai or CJK the tool says so and stops rather than handing you a PDF full of blanks. Printing to PDF from your word processor handles those properly, because it can embed the font.

    Are my tables and pictures kept?

    Simple tables and inline pictures, yes. Merged cells, cell borders and floating images are not. Open the result and check, as you would with any conversion.

    Is my document uploaded?

    No. The .docx is unzipped and read in your browser, and the PDF is built on your device. A covering letter or a contract is precisely the document that should not go to someone else's server.

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