PDF to Word (.docx) Converter

Word 2013 and newer on Windows can open a PDF directly and turn it into an editable document. This is the same converter the scripts below use, so start here if you only have one or two files.

1. Open Microsoft Word and go to File → Open.
2. Choose your PDF. When Word says it will convert the PDF into an editable document, click OK.
3. Check the result, then go to File → Save As and pick Word Document (*.docx).

This script asks Word to open each PDF in the background and save it as .docx. You get Word's own high-quality conversion, and you can convert a whole folder in one go. It needs Windows, Microsoft Word and Python.

Step 1 — install the one library it needs

Install Python from python.org if you don't have it (tick “Add Python to PATH” during setup). Then open Command Prompt and run:

pip install pywin32

Step 2 — save the script

Copy the code below into a new file named convert_pdf_to_word.py (Notepad is fine — choose “All files” when saving), or use the Download button. Save it in the same folder as your PDF, and change PDF_FILE to your PDF's name.

# convert_pdf_to_word.py
# Converts PDF files to Word (.docx) using Microsoft Word itself.
# Needs: Windows + Microsoft Word 2013 or newer + Python 3 + "pip install pywin32"
#
# How to run (from the folder this file is in):
#   python convert_pdf_to_word.py                        converts PDF_FILE below
#   python convert_pdf_to_word.py "Report 2024.pdf"      converts that file
#   python convert_pdf_to_word.py "C:\Users\me\PDFs"     converts every PDF in that folder

import os
import sys

import win32com.client

PDF_FILE = "my-document.pdf"  # change this to your PDF's file name

WORD_DOCX_FORMAT = 16  # Word's code for the .docx format


def convert(word, pdf_path):
    pdf_path = os.path.abspath(pdf_path)
    docx_path = os.path.splitext(pdf_path)[0] + ".docx"
    print(f"Converting {os.path.basename(pdf_path)} (this may take a moment)...")
    doc = word.Documents.Open(pdf_path, ConfirmConversions=False, ReadOnly=True, AddToRecentFiles=False)
    try:
        doc.SaveAs2(docx_path, FileFormat=WORD_DOCX_FORMAT)
    finally:
        doc.Close(SaveChanges=False)
    print(f"  Saved {docx_path}")


def main():
    target = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else PDF_FILE

    if os.path.isdir(target):
        pdfs = [os.path.join(target, name) for name in sorted(os.listdir(target)) if name.lower().endswith(".pdf")]
    else:
        pdfs = [target]

    if not pdfs:
        print(f"No PDF files found in {target}")
        sys.exit(1)
    for pdf in pdfs:
        if not os.path.isfile(pdf):
            print(f"File not found: {pdf}")
            print("Check the name in PDF_FILE, and that this script is in the same folder as your PDF.")
            sys.exit(1)

    # A separate, hidden copy of Word, so documents you already have open are not touched.
    word = win32com.client.DispatchEx("Word.Application")
    word.Visible = False
    word.DisplayAlerts = 0  # skip the "Word will now convert your PDF" prompt
    try:
        for pdf in pdfs:
            convert(word, pdf)
    finally:
        word.Quit()

    print(f"Done. Converted {len(pdfs)} file(s).")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Step 3 — run it

Open the folder in File Explorer, type cmd in the address bar and press Enter. Then run the command below. The .docx is saved next to your PDF with the same name.

python convert_pdf_to_word.py

To convert a different file without editing the script, put its name after the command in quotes, for example python convert_pdf_to_word.py "Invoice March.pdf". To convert every PDF in a folder, give the folder path instead.

Same Word-quality result, nothing to install. It converts every PDF in a folder. Open the folder in File Explorer, type powershell in the address bar and press Enter, then paste this and press Enter:

# Converts every PDF in the current folder to .docx using Microsoft Word
$word = New-Object -ComObject Word.Application
$word.Visible = $false
$word.DisplayAlerts = 0
try {
    Get-ChildItem -Path . -Filter *.pdf | ForEach-Object {
        Write-Host "Converting $($_.Name) ..."
        $doc = $word.Documents.Open($_.FullName, $false, $true)
        $out = [System.IO.Path]::ChangeExtension($_.FullName, ".docx")
        $doc.SaveAs2($out, 16)
        $doc.Close($false)
        Write-Host "  Saved $out"
    }
} finally {
    $word.Quit()
    [void][System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($word)
}

Only want one file? Replace -Filter *.pdf with the file name in quotes, for example -Filter "Report.pdf".

pdf2docx is the open-source library behind our WebAssembly engine. Running it yourself is handy on a Mac or Linux computer, or for big batches without Word. Install it once, then convert from the terminal:

pip install pdf2docx
pdf2docx convert "my-document.pdf" "my-document.docx"

On macOS and Linux you may need pip3 instead of pip.

If you have LibreOffice installed, it can convert from the command line. The text stays editable, but pages are often rebuilt with text boxes, so it suits simple documents best. Run the line for your system from the folder that contains your PDF:

"C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\soffice.exe" --headless --infilter="writer_pdf_import" --convert-to docx "my-document.pdf"

/Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice --headless --infilter="writer_pdf_import" --convert-to docx "my-document.pdf"

soffice --headless --infilter="writer_pdf_import" --convert-to docx "my-document.pdf"

Google Docs can read text from PDFs, including scanned ones, but it keeps little of the original layout and your file is uploaded to Google Drive.

1. Upload the PDF to Google Drive.
2. Right-click it and choose Open with → Google Docs.
3. Go to File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx).