Convert or export PDFs to other file formats

Last updated on Oct 30, 2023 | Also applies to Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat 2017

You can easily export or convert one or more PDFs to different file formats, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The available formats include both text and image formats.

Watch a quick video tutorial and get started

Convert PDFs to Word, RTF, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, or other formats

Note:

You cannot export PDF Portfolios, or PDFs within them, to other file formats.

Open the PDF in Acrobat, and then choose Tools > Export PDF.

The various formats to which you can export the PDF file are displayed.

Choose the format to which you want to export your PDF.

Note:

You can also choose File > Export To > [File Type] to export the PDF file to a desired format.
Select the file format to which you want to export the PDF file and a version (or format), if available. For example, if you choose to export the PDF file to Word format, you will get an option to export the PDF into Word Document (.docx) or Word 97-2003 Document (.doc) version.

Note:

You can configure the conversion settings by clicking the gear icon adjacent to the selected file format. Conversion settings can also be edited by selecting the Convert From PDF category in the Preferences dialog box.
Click Export.
The Export dialog box is displayed.

Export your PDF document to a local folder or Adobe Document Cloud.
In the Export dialog box, select a location where you want to save the file.
Click Save to export the PDF to the selected file format.

By default, the source filename is used with the new extension, and the exported file is saved in the same folder as the source file.

Note:

When you save a PDF in an image format, each page is saved as a separate file, and each filename is appended with the page number.

Conversion options

You can configure conversion options before you save the file. By default, the conversion options specified under Preferences are used.

Choose Edit > Preferences > Convert From PDF.
Choose a format from the Converting From PDF list, and then click Edit Settings.
Choose the conversion settings, and then click OK.

Export images in a PDF to another format

In addition to saving every page (all text, images, and vector objects on a page) to an image format using the File > Export To > Image > [Image Type] command, you can export each image in a PDF to a separate image file.

Note:

You can export raster images, but not vector objects.

Open the PDF in Acrobat, and then choose Tools > Export PDF.

The various formats to which you can export the PDF file are displayed.
Click Image and then choose the image file format that you want to save the images in.

Choose the format that you want to save the exported images in.
To configure the conversion settings for the selected file format, click the gear icon .
In the Export All Images As [selected file format] Settings dialog box, specify the File Settings, Color Management, Conversion, and Extraction settings for the file type.
In the Extraction settings, for Exclude Images Smaller Than, select the smallest size of image to be extracted. Select No Limit to extract all images.
Click OK to return to the return to the Export Your PDF To Any Format screen.
Select the Export All Images option to extract and save only the images from the PDF file.

Note:

If you do not select the Export All Images option, all pages within the PDF are saved in the selected image file format.
Click Export.
The Export dialog box is displayed.
In the Export dialog box, select a location where you want to save the file.
Click Save to save only the images from the PDF to the selected file format.

Export selections from a PDF to another format

If you need just a part of the PDF file in another format, you don’t need to convert the entire file and then extract the relevant content. You can select text in a PDF file and save it in one of the supported formats: DOCX, DOC, XLSX, RTF, XML, HTML, or CSV.

Use the Select tool and mark the content to save.
Right-click the selected text and choose Export Selection As.

Right-click the selected text, and choose Export Selection As from the pop-up menu.
Select a format from the Save As Type list and click Save.