How to convert PDF to Word in single step?
On macOS, you can convert a PDF to a Word document in a single step without third-party applications by leveraging the built-in Preview app and a copy-paste method into Microsoft Word. While macOS doesn’t have a direct “Save as Word” feature for PDFs, this workaround is quick and preserves basic text and formatting.
Here’s is a video that describes the method:
Single-Step Method: Convert PDF to Word Using Preview and Word
1-Open the PDF in Preview:
- Locate your PDF file in Finder.
- Double-click it to open in Preview (the default PDF viewer on macOS). If it opens in another app, right-click the file, select
Open With>Preview.
2- Select and Copy All Content:
- Click the Text Selection Tool (the “A” icon) in the Preview toolbar (or press
Command + 2). - Press
Command + Ato select all text and images in the PDF. - Press
Command + Cto copy everything to your clipboard.
3- Paste into Microsoft Word:
- Open Microsoft Word on your Mac.
- Create a new blank document (
File>New Document). - Press
Command + Vto paste the copied PDF content into Word. - The text, and sometimes images, will transfer over, maintaining basic formatting where possible.
4- Save as Word Document:
- Go to
File>Save As. - Choose a location, name your file, and select
.docx(Word Document) as the file format. - Click
Save.
Notes
- Limitations:
- This method works best for text-heavy PDFs with simple layouts.
- Complex formatting (e.g., tables, multi-column layouts) or scanned PDFs (images of text) may not convert accurately. For scanned PDFs, you’d need OCR (Optical Character Recognition), which requires third-party tools like Adobe Acrobat or online services.
- Editable Result: The pasted content is fully editable in Word, allowing you to adjust formatting as needed.
- Images: If the PDF includes images, they may paste as well, but their positioning might need manual tweaking.
