Conversions explained
PDF to Word in Microsoft 365 compared with a browser tool
If you have Microsoft 365, Word can open a PDF and turn it into an editable document. A browser tool such as RedactNinja PDF takes a different approach. Neither copies a PDF perfectly, and they differ in what they keep and where the work happens.
RedactNinja guide. Updated 5 October 2026.
Why converting a PDF to Word is hard
A PDF records where each character, line and image sits on a fixed page. It does not usually record that a block of text is a paragraph, that a line is a heading, or that a grid of words is a table. Any converter has to work that structure out from the positions on the page, and different converters make different guesses.
How Word opens a PDF
Microsoft introduced this feature in Word 2013 under the name PDF Reflow. Microsoft Support describes it for Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016: when you open a PDF, Word makes a copy, converts it to a Word document and tries to match the layout of the original. It uses a set of rules to decide which Word objects, such as headings, lists and tables, best represent what is on the page.
Your original PDF is not changed. Microsoft notes that the result might not look exactly like the PDF, and that a page made mostly of charts or other graphics may come through as a single image. Microsoft also said, when it launched the feature, that text-heavy documents convert best and that presentations and brochures are more likely to cause problems.
What Word may not carry across
Microsoft lists these elements as ones that may not convert well:
- Tables with cell spacing
- Page colours and page borders
- Tracked changes
- Frames
- Footnotes that span more than one page, and endnotes
- Audio, video and PDF active elements
- PDF bookmarks, tags and comments
- Font effects such as glow or shadow
What a browser converter does instead
RedactNinja PDF to Word builds a new DOCX from the text it extracts from the PDF. For simple layouts it infers paragraphs and headings and keeps font sizes and any bold or italic it can detect. Where the layout is ambiguous, it keeps the extracted lines in order instead of guessing. An optional setting rebuilds simple aligned tables, but not merged or multi-line cells.
It does not try to reproduce the page design. Text is set in Arial rather than the original typeface, and images, complex layouts, forms and annotations are not rebuilt. Each source page starts on a new page in Word, but Word may add pages as the text reflows. You can convert up to 50 PDFs at once and get the Word files in a ZIP.
RedactNinja PDF to Word does not recognise text in scanned pages. Pages with no text get a placeholder, so run OCR PDF first. The PDF to Word tool page covers the steps.
Where the conversion happens
Microsoft describes two routes. In desktop Word you open the PDF from your computer. In Word for the web you upload it from your computer or cloud storage and Word converts it so you can edit it online. Microsoft says that either way your documents remain on your device or in the Microsoft cloud. In Word for the web you upload the PDF from your computer or cloud storage, and it is converted online in the Microsoft cloud. For a work account, that is the Microsoft 365 service your organisation already uses, under its own contracts and settings.
RedactNinja PDF converts the file in your browser on your device, and the file is not uploaded. That suits documents you cannot place in a cloud service, or situations where you do not have Word. You can check that nothing is uploaded yourself.
Whichever you use, conversion is not redaction. Text that is hidden or covered in the PDF can appear in the Word document. Check the output before sharing it, and read how to redact a PDF properly if the file contains information the recipient should not see.
Which should you use?
- Use Word when you want the converted file to look as close as possible to the PDF, including images and page design, and you have desktop Word or an approved Microsoft 365 account.
- Use a browser tool when you mainly need the text in an editable form, when the document should stay on your device, or when Word is not available.
- For a long or complex document, try both on a copy and keep whichever needs less tidying.
- If you have the original Word file, use that instead. Converting back from PDF always involves some rebuilding.
Check the converted document
Compare the Word file with the PDF page by page. Look at headings, numbered lists, tables, page breaks and anything in columns. Check names, figures, dates and reference numbers individually, because a converter can misplace them without any obvious sign. If the result needs heavy tidying, it can be quicker to copy the text into a new document and apply your own styles. For other problems, see troubleshooting PDF conversion and export.