PDF → Excel
Convert PDF to Excel
Turn the table in a PDF, such as an accounting export or a supplier report, into a clean Excel file. Columns stay apart, amounts arrive as real numbers, and scanned pages are read with English and Turkish OCR.
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How it works
How to convert a PDF to Excel in four steps
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1
Drop the PDF into the tool
Open the tool with a free account and drag the PDF in. A PDF with a text layer is read for free; each scanned page uses 1 credit.
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2
Turn it into a table
Rows and columns are rebuilt from where the words sit. A table split across pages becomes one table; the letterhead stays out.
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3
Review it and fix by typing
Click a cell to correct it, or type a request such as “Total = Qty * Unit Price”. Each change is previewed and applied only when you click Apply, and can be undone.
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4
Download the Excel file
You get an .xlsx with the header frozen and filters on. Totals and calculated columns stay live Excel formulas. Downloading is free.
Real example
A purchase order summary, from PDF to Excel
We ran a one-page purchase order report through Nexell's server engine. The names are made up; the table, commands and formulas are the engine's real output.
1In the PDF
Portland, OR 97209
Currency: USD
| PO Number | Supplier | Item | Qty | Unit Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO-26-0418 | Cascade Paper Mills | Copy paper A4, 80 gsm (box) | 40 | $38.50 |
| PO-26-0419 | Redwood Furniture Inc. | Ergonomic desk chair | 6 | $214.00 |
| PO-26-0420 | Cascade Paper Mills | Recycled envelopes (500) | 12 | $27.95 |
| PO-26-0421 | Summit Tech Supply | USB-C docking station | 8 | $129.99 |
| PO-26-0422 | Redwood Furniture Inc. | Standing desk frame | 3 | $389.00 |
| PO-26-0423 | Summit Tech Supply | Wireless keyboard | 15 | $45.25 |
| PO-26-0424 | Cascade Paper Mills | Sticky notes, 12-pack | 25 | $9.80 |
2In Nexell
- PDF read: 5 columns, 8 rows. The letterhead stayed out; the footer line came in as a row.
- delete rows where Supplier is emptyRemoved rows where Supplier is empty: the footer row is gone
- Total = Qty * Unit PriceAdded column Total (=[@Qty] * [@Unit Price])
- sort by Total descendingSorted by Total, largest to smallest
- add a total rowTotal row added — uses SUBTOTAL in Excel, so it updates when filtered
Each command came back as a preview first and changed the table only after Apply.
3In Excel
=SUBTOTAL(109,F2:F8)| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PO Number | Supplier | Item | Qty | Unit Price | Total |
| 2 | PO-26-0418 | Cascade Paper Mills | Copy paper A4, 80 gsm (box) | 40 | $ 38.50 | 1,540.00 |
| 3 | PO-26-0419 | Redwood Furniture Inc. | Ergonomic desk chair | 6 | $ 214.00 | 1,284.00 |
| 4 | PO-26-0422 | Redwood Furniture Inc. | Standing desk frame | 3 | $ 389.00 | 1,167.00 |
| 5 | PO-26-0421 | Summit Tech Supply | USB-C docking station | 8 | $ 129.99 | 1,039.92 |
| 6 | PO-26-0423 | Summit Tech Supply | Wireless keyboard | 15 | $ 45.25 | 678.75 |
| 7 | PO-26-0420 | Cascade Paper Mills | Recycled envelopes (500) | 12 | $ 27.95 | 335.40 |
| 8 | PO-26-0424 | Cascade Paper Mills | Sticky notes, 12-pack | 25 | $ 9.80 | 245.00 |
| 9 | Total | 109.00 | 6,290.07 |
Unit Price keeps its dollar format and every Total cell is a live formula (F2 is =D2*E2). The Chart sheet sums Total by supplier with SUMIF and a column chart: Redwood Furniture 2,451.00 · Cascade Paper Mills 2,120.40 · Summit Tech Supply 1,718.67. Cost: 5 credits (conversion plus four commands); reading and downloading were free.
Produced with Nexell's server engine on October 14, 2026; the values match the downloaded file.
Why Nexell
What Nexell does differently
Numbers stay numbers
Amounts like $38.50 or 12.500,00 are read with the right decimal separator and stored as numeric cells that add up and filter at once.
You see it before you download
The table opens on screen first; nothing you type changes it until you approve the preview.
Plain-English edits, same result every time
The engine is rule-based: the same sentence on the same table always gives the same result, and it says what it did.
Formulas you can keep using
Totals become SUBTOTAL and calculated columns become normal formulas. Change a quantity in Excel and the totals follow.
Your PDF is not kept
It stays in our server's memory only while it is processed: no disk, no database, no outside service.
Scanned pages work too
Scanned pages are read on our own server with open-source Tesseract OCR, then rebuilt as a table.
Limits
What to know before you start
- English and Turkish only. OCR reads only these two languages, and requests are understood only in them. Scanned PDFs in other languages need a text layer.
- Check US-style dates. Month-first dates (09/14/2026) are not recognized reliably yet: some stay text, and 09/02/2026 can be read as 9 February. 2026-09-14 or 14.09.2026 become real Excel dates.
- Scan quality matters. On a skewed or blurry page cells can be misread; check the amounts before you download.
- Columns can merge. A total label spanning several columns can join two columns into one; check the headers.
- Extra lines can slip in. A footer or printed total may arrive as a row; one command removes it.
- No password-protected PDFs. Upload a copy saved without the password.
- Size limits: Free plan tables up to 5,000 rows and files up to 10 MB (paid plans 50-100 MB). On every plan, OCR reads at most 25 MB and the first 50 pages of a scanned PDF.
FAQ
PDF to Excel: common questions
Is converting a PDF to Excel free?
The Free plan gives you 30 credits a month, no card needed. Reading a text-layer PDF and downloading are free; the conversion and each command use 1 credit per 10,000 rows, and each OCR page uses 1 credit.
Do I need an account?
For PDF files, yes: a free account with your email. The home page has a no-account trial for pasted text (up to 4,000 characters).
Can I convert a scanned PDF to Excel?
Yes, on every plan. Pages are read with English and Turkish OCR and rebuilt as a table. Each page uses 1 credit, returned if no text comes out.
Will a table that runs over several pages come out as one table?
Yes. Pages are joined, the repeated header is written once, and wrapped descriptions stay in one cell.
Is my PDF stored?
No. It is kept in memory only while it is processed. The server keeps just the credit record: job type, rows and pages.
Related
Other ways to get data into Excel
- Image to ExcelA photo or screenshot of a table, read with OCR.
- Invoice to ExcelInvoice PDFs and receipt photos in one table.
- Text to ExcelSplit a pasted list into name, phone and amount columns.
- CSV to ExcelThe right delimiter, characters intact.
- WhatsApp chat to ExcelAn exported chat as a table of orders or contacts.
- Excel formula generatorDescribe the calculation and get a working Excel formula.
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