How to extract data from pdf to excel?
As someone who works with data extraction regularly, here are practical tips beyond the basic methods:For tabular data:- PDF Tables extension for Chrome works surprisingly well- Tabula (free open-source software) specializes in table extraction- Adobe Acrobat's table selection tool - manually select tables for conversionCommon issues and solutions:- Scanned PDFs: Use Google Docs (it has built-in OCR) or Adobe Acrobat OCR- Poor formatting: Paste into Word first to clean up before Excel- Large files: Break into smaller sections for online convertersPro tip: For regularly updated PDFs, consider Power Query in Excel (Data → Get Data → From File → From PDF) - it can create refreshable connections to PDF data sources.Always verify the extracted data as formatting can get messy, especially with complex tables.
Here are several methods to extract data from PDF to Excel:Method 1: Using Adobe Acrobat Pro (Most Effective)- Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro- Click "Export PDF" in right pane- Choose "Spreadsheet" → "Microsoft Excel Workbook"- Click "Export" and save the Excel fileMethod 2: Online Converters (Free)- Use sites like SmallPDF, iLovePDF, or PDF2Go- Upload your PDF file- Download converted Excel file- Caution: Avoid sensitive documents on free sitesMethod 3: Microsoft Word Intermediate- Open PDF in Word (File → Open → Select PDF)- Word converts PDF to editable format- Copy content and paste into Excel- Works best for text-based PDFsMethod 4: Google Drive- Upload PDF to Google Drive- Right-click → Open with Google Docs- Copy text and paste into ExcelFor scanned PDFs, you'll need OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software.
To extract data from PDF to Excel, you can use several methods: 1. Adobe Acrobat Pro: Export PDF as Excel directly. 2. Online Tools: Smallpdf, ILovePDF, or PDFtoExcel.com for free conversion. 3. Python Libraries: tabula-py or PyPDF2 for automated extraction from structured PDFs. Choose the method depending on whether your PDF is scanned or digitally created.