Skip to content
PDFApproximateRuns in your browser

PDF to XLSX Converter

Turn PDF files into XLSX in a couple of clicks. Fixed-layout documents that look identical everywhere. The modern Microsoft Excel workbook format. The result is a best-effort reconstruction; check it before relying on it.

On your deviceNever uploadedGone when you close the tabHow this works

Drop your files here

PDF files (.pdf) · up to 200 MB each

or paste files from your clipboard

Ready when you are

Drop a PDF file above and FileTools360 will turn it into XLSX — right here on your device, without uploading anything.

⌘K to search converters

How to use it

  1. 1

    Add your PDF documents

    Drag them onto the upload area, choose them from your device, or paste them from your clipboard. You can queue several at once.

  2. 2

    Adjust the settings if you want to

    The defaults suit most people. Open Advanced to control the output settings.

  3. 3

    Convert and download

    Press Convert. Everything happens on your own device — nothing is uploaded. Download files one by one, or grab them all as a ZIP.

PDF and XLSX explained

PDF describes a page as a fixed arrangement of text, vector graphics and images. Unlike a word processor document, it is designed so the page looks identical everywhere — which is exactly why it is awkward to edit.

XLSX is Excel's modern format — a ZIP of XML holding cells, formulas, formatting, multiple sheets, charts and pivot tables.

Where PDF files come from
Contracts, invoices, reports, forms, academic papers and scanned documents.
Where XLSX is used
Excel, Google Sheets exports and business reporting systems.

PDF vs XLSX

The two formats solve different problems, which is why converting between them involves trade-offs rather than a straight upgrade.

PDF compared with XLSX
PropertySourceTarget
CompressionLossy or losslessLossless
Introduced19932007
Browser supportUniversal.Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, LibreOffice.
PDF is stronger at
Looks identical on every device, in every viewer, when printed. Supports digital signatures, forms and embedded fonts. Universally readable without special software.
XLSX is stronger at
Formulas, formatting, charts and multiple sheets in one file. Compact relative to the old .xls. Supported by Excel, Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice.

Why convert PDF to XLSX?

People make this switch when they run into the limits of PDF: the document still needs collaborative editing. XLSX is the better fit when the data needs calculation, formatting or more than one sheet.

PDF limitations that prompt the switch
Genuinely hard to edit — it stores positioned glyphs, not paragraphs. Scanned PDFs contain no text at all until OCR is run. Can be large when it contains high-resolution images.
What you give up
Harder to parse programmatically than CSV. Formula compatibility varies between applications.

What is preserved when converting PDF to XLSX?

Both formats store the content without discarding data, so this conversion preserves it exactly. The file size may change because the two formats compress differently, but the content itself is unaffected.

A PDF full of scanned pages is a stack of pictures, not a document. Selecting text is impossible until OCR has been run over it.

About these formats

Source

Portable Document Format

Fixed-layout documents that look identical everywhere.

Extensions
.pdf
MIME type
application/pdf
Best for
Sharing documents · Printing · Contracts and forms
Compatibility
Universal.

Target

Excel Open XML Workbook

The modern Microsoft Excel workbook format.

Extensions
.xlsx, .xlsm
MIME type
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
Best for
Multi-sheet data · Formulas · Business reporting
Compatibility
Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, LibreOffice.

Rows and columns are worked out from where the text sits on the page, so check the result against the original. A scanned PDF has no text to read — run OCR PDF over it first.

Good to know

PDF to XLSX Converter — questions

Runs entirely in your browser

FileTools360 by the numbers

521 converters and tools65 file formatsnothing ever uploaded.