How to Convert a PDF Table to Excel (Numbers You Can Actually Calculate With)

To get a table from a PDF into Excel, open a PDF to Excel converter, add the PDF and download the .xlsx workbook it creates. With Filevale's PDF to Excel, each page becomes its own sheet and numbers stay numbers, so you can sum, sort and chart them right away. That beats copying and pasting, where a bank statement, price list or report usually lands in one column or with every figure stuck as text.

Convert the PDF table to Excel

1. Open PDF to Excel and choose your PDF: drop it on the page or click to browse. You can add several PDFs at once.
2. Click Convert. Everything happens on your device.
3. Download the XLSX file. If you want different options, change them and run it again on the same file.

The workbook has one sheet per page, so a three-page table gives you three sheets. Because numbers come through as numbers, a formula like =SUM() works straight away. The .xlsx file also opens in Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice, so you don't need Excel itself.

The PDF is never uploaded. It is converted inside your browser, which matters for statements, invoices and payroll reports. The tool is free with no watermarks; downloading the result needs a free account (Google or email).

Only need some of the pages?

A 40-page report might have only two pages with the table you care about. Since every page turns into its own sheet, it is easier to first copy just those pages into a new PDF with Extract PDF Pages, then convert that smaller file. You end up with a workbook that holds only the sheets you need.

If the PDF asks for a password when you open it, remove the password first with Unlock PDF. You need to know the password; the tool doesn't guess it.

Prefer CSV? Use PDF to CSV

PDF to CSV detects table-like rows from where the columns sit on the page and saves them as a CSV file. CSV is plain text that every spreadsheet, database and programming language can read, so it is the better choice when the data goes into another system rather than a person's spreadsheet. If you later want a proper workbook from that CSV, CSV to Excel turns it into one. For more on moving data between CSV, JSON and Excel, see how to convert JSON to CSV or Excel.

When the table doesn't come out right

• The PDF is a scan. A scanned page is a picture of a table, not text. Filevale has no OCR, so it can't read text out of a photo. Ask the sender for the original digital PDF, or for the spreadsheet itself.
• Columns shift or merge. Tables are rebuilt from how text is laid out on the page. Tables with merged cells, rotated headers or text wrapping across several lines may need some tidying in Excel afterwards.
• You need the text, not the table. For paragraphs you want to edit, PDF to Word is the better fit. See how to convert a PDF to Word.

Using Excel's own PDF import

If you have a Microsoft 365 version of Excel on Windows, you can also go to Data → Get Data → From File → From PDF, pick the file and choose the table you want. That works well if you already live in Excel. On a Mac, iPhone, Android phone or Chromebook, or when you don't have Excel at all, the browser converter does the job in any modern browser with nothing to install.

Frequently asked questions