Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser
Convert PDF to Excel.
Pull tables and text out of a PDF into a real spreadsheet — without a single file ever leaving your device. Works best on simple tables, and needs a PDF with real text (not a scan).
Not uploaded — nobody sees it One sheet per page No watermark, ever No subscription or account
Sheet layout
Preparing…
Your file is never uploaded — it’s processed right here in this browser tab, on your device. It never reaches a server, so we never see it, copy it or keep it.
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PDF to Excel: quick facts
Pull the tables and text out of a PDF into an .xlsx spreadsheet.
Updated
- Price
- Free. No sign-up, no watermark.
- Output
- An .xlsx file, one sheet per page or all pages on one sheet.
- Works best on
- Clearly spaced tables in PDFs with real text.
- Not supported
- Scanned PDFs without a text layer, and password-protected PDFs (unlock first).
- Not kept
- Fonts, colours, borders and formulas: you get plain cells.
- Privacy
- Your file is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
How it works
How to convert a PDF table to Excel
Altto reads each word on the page along with its position, then lines the words up into rows and columns. You get an .xlsx file with a sheet per page, or every page in one sheet if you choose.
- 01
Add your PDF
Drop in a PDF with tables or text.
- 02
Convert
Altto reads the text positions and lays it out into cells, locally.
- 03
Save your spreadsheet
Get back an .xlsx file, ready to sort and edit.
A real example
A sample budget we made for testing, before and after converting it with this page. Nothing was touched up afterwards.
Clearly spaced tables like this one come through cleanly. Tables with merged cells, wrapped text or very tight spacing can need a little tidying: see the tips below.
Tips
Tips for a cleaner spreadsheet from a PDF
The table is rebuilt from where words sit on the page, so a few quick checks after converting save confusion later.
- Check the odd figure that stayed as textAmounts such as £1,170, 1,228.74 or (12.50) arrive as real numbers that add up with SUM, keeping their £ sign or commas as the cell format. Anything that doesn’t look like a plain amount (a figure with a unit after it, say) stays as text: select it, then choose Convert to Number from the small warning icon Excel shows.
- Check rows with gaps or crowded columnsColumns are worked out from the gaps between words. A blank cell in the PDF leaves no gap to find, so the values after it slide one column left, and columns printed close together can merge into one cell. Scan the result for figures in the wrong place.
- Rejoin text that wrapped onto two linesA cell that wraps in the PDF, such as a long payee name, comes out as an extra row with its second line in the first column. Merge it back into the row above before you sort or filter, or it will end up out of place.
- Combining pages? Clear out the extrasWith Combine into one sheet, a “-- Page N --” marker row sits between pages, and any column headings the PDF repeats on each page repeat too. Filter the first column to find those rows and delete them before you total anything.
Like every Altto tool, this runs on your device — nothing you add is uploaded. How Altto works
15 digits
is as much of a number as Excel can store exactly. That’s why Altto leaves long reference numbers (over 15 digits) as text: turn them into numbers and every digit after the 15th becomes a zero.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What PDF to Excel can pull out of a PDF, and what it leaves behind. Need to go the other way? See Excel to PDF.
Can I turn a bank statement into a spreadsheet?
Yes, if the statement is a normal PDF from your bank (not a scan or a photo). Each line keeps its date, description and amounts under the right headings, even when a line has nothing in Paid in or Paid out, and amounts arrive as real numbers you can add up. Choose Combine into one sheet to get every page in one list. Your statement never leaves your device. Our guide to converting a bank statement PDF to Excel covers tidying the sheet and checking the totals.
Will the numbers work in Excel formulas?
Yes. Amounts such as 1,228.74, £45.00 or (12.50) become real numbers in Excel, so SUM and sorting work straight away; brackets become minus numbers. Codes with a leading zero, such as account or reference numbers, stay as text so the zero isn’t lost.
Will this reconstruct my table perfectly?
It works well on simple, clearly-spaced tables. Altto groups text by its position on the page to guess rows and columns — merged cells, multi-line cells or very tight spacing can sometimes throw the guess off.
How are pages organized in the spreadsheet?
By default each PDF page becomes its own sheet, named “Page 1”, “Page 2” and so on. Switch to “Combine into one sheet” before converting if you'd rather have every page's rows in a single sheet, with a small “-- Page N --” marker row between pages.
What if my PDF is a scanned image, not real text?
This tool reads actual text data embedded in the PDF, so a scanned page with no text layer won’t produce a table. Scanned documents need OCR first.
Can I convert a password-protected PDF?
No, encrypted PDFs can't be read in the browser. Remove the password first (see our Unlock PDF tool if you own the file), then convert it here.
Will the spreadsheet keep the PDF’s formatting?
No. Only the words and their positions are read, so fonts, colours, shading, borders, logos and images are left behind, and totals arrive as typed figures rather than formulas. You get plain cells to sort, filter and format yourself, and you can add your own formulas once the figures are converted to numbers.
How can I tell if my PDF has real text?
Open it in any PDF viewer and try to highlight a single word. If individual words highlight, there’s a text layer this tool can read. If nothing highlights, or the whole page selects like a picture, it’s a scan or a photo, and that page’s sheet will just say no text was found.
Can I convert only one page of the PDF?
The whole file is converted, but with the default one sheet per page, the page you want is simply the sheet with its number, and you can delete the rest. For one table from a very long document, pull that page out first with Extract PDF Pages.
Can I convert a PDF to Excel without uploading it?
Yes. Altto’s PDF to Excel reads your PDF in your browser, so the file (a bank statement, say) is never sent to a server. The page loads the code, then your own device does the conversion. You can check this in your browser’s Network tab, as described on the About page.
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