There are several methods one can use to insert or open pdf in Microsoft Word document. This way, you will be able to edit the pdf right within the Microsoft Word app. Yes, it is possible.
NOTE: Some of these methods involved using online or offline PDF converters. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do all of that for free.
Without wasting much time, let’s get started.
Method 1: Open PDF As Word on Windows
This method could be the simplest when it comes to inserting or opening pdf files in Microsoft Word document. It doesn’t involve using any file converter software.
Microsoft Word has a hidden PDF to Word convertor that will easily convert your pdf document to an editable Word document.
This is will save your day if you want to edit your PDF file inside your Word document.
Quick Guide:
To open and edit pdf inside a Word document, simply open the pdf file with Microsoft Word by right-clicking on the pdf file, go to Open With and select the Word app. Or launch Microsoft Word and go to Open, then select the PDF as the file you want to open. A dialog box will appear, click OK.
Obey these detailed instructions below to see how it works:
- Use the Open With the command to open the PDF file in MS Word. To do this, follow the steps below.
- Go to the folder that contains your pdf file. Mine is on Desktop.
- Right-Click on the pdf file. A shortcut menu will appear.
- From the shortcut menu, click on Open With to display the second menu.
- The second shortcut menu will list all the software that can be used to open the pdf file, select Word from this list.
- If Word doesn’t appear on the list, click on Choose another app for more options.
- You’ll see the How do you want to open this file? Dialog. Look for Word on this dialog.
- If you can’t find the Word app on the immediate list, further click on the More apps button. This will reveal more apps that you can use to open the PDF file. We are just trying to open the pdf with Microsoft Word since it is also a supported software for opening pdf files.
- When you click on More Apps, scroll to the button of the list. You should now see Word as part of the options.
- Click to select the Word option and then click on the OK button.
- Alternatively, you can open the PDF file by first opening Word document, then press Ctrl+O to launch the Open dashboard where you get to choose the location of the pdf file.
- After opening the file, you’ll be prompted with a message that says that Word will convert your pdf to an editable Word document. Click on the OK button to accept.
- Now Word will process the pdf file into a format that you can edit. This may take a while depending on the size of the pdf file. The smaller the file size the faster.
- When Word is done with the processing, it’ll then launch with an editable copy of your pdf file.
- Before you can edit the content, you may have to Enable Editing at the top of the window. This is just a warning that some files from the internet may contain a virus. If you are sure of the source of the file, just hit the Enable Editing button.
- After editing your document, Go to File>Save As to save your document as a Word document.
This is how you may easily open and edit any pdf file as a Microsoft Word document.
Method 2: Word’s Insert Object Command (Word 2019, 2016 & 2013)
This method uses technology known as Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) to display the PDF object in its original form withing the Microsoft Word programme.
You should use this approach if you want to only embed and view the pdf inside Word without editing the content.
Thus, with this option, you cannot edit the pdf file. It only allows you to insert the object for viewing only.
And once the pdf is inserted, you can resize and reposition it just as you will do with an image.
Below is a quick guide:
To embed pdf in word, go the Insert tab of the Ribbon and click on the Object drop-down arrow in the Text group, then click Object. The Object dialog box will appear, select Adobe Acrobat Document under the Object Type: and click OK. Then locate and open the PDF file from the Open dialog box to embed the file.
Obey the step by step instructions below:
- Launch your Word document.
- Place your insertion pointer at where you need to insert the pdf Document.
- Go to the Insert tab.
- In the Text group, select the Object drop-down and select Object.
The Object dialog box will appear.
- Under the Create New tab, you’ll need to specify the Object type. The Object type items depend on the programs installed on your Computer. This means your object type items may look different from mine. Select the Adobe Acrobat Document option and click on the Ok button.
- The open dialog box will appear. Navigate to the folder that contains the pdf file you want to insert into Word. Select the file and click Open.
- The pdf file will then be embedded into your Word document.
This is how you may insert or embed a pdf file into a Word document.
To Insert PDF into Word on Mac, just obey the instructions explained in this method and you’ll be able to get the job done.
Method 3: Open PDF in Word by Converting Online
There are a countless number of great PDF to Word converters that will allow you to convert your pdf files into Microsoft Word document for free without losing quality.
As an additional option to the above, you can, first of all, use these online file converters to change the PDF file to a Word document that you can open and edit freely.
Below is a list of some free online PDF to Word converters:
- Small PDF (Link: https://smallpdf.com/pdf-to-word)
- Free PDF Converter (Link: https://www.freepdfconvert.com/pdf-to-word)
- PDF to Doc (Link: https://pdf2doc.com/)
- I Love PDF (Link: https://www.ilovepdf.com/pdf_to_word)
- Simply PDF (Link: https://simplypdf.com/)
To use these online tools (Small PDF), obey the instructions below:
- Go to smallpdf.com
- Select the PDF to Word converter option.
- Alternatively, just click on this link to jump straight to the page.
- Click on the Choose Files button. Navigate to the location of your pdf file and upload it.
- When the File is uploaded, select the Convert to Word option and then click on the Choose Option button.
- The PDF converter will begin the process. It may take a while depending on the pdf file size. The smaller the size the faster the conversion process.
- As soon as the process is done, you should see a screen that says that your pdf file has been converted to an editable Word file. You’ll also be provided with a download button to download the converted file onto your PC Hard drive.
- Download the file and have fun.
Now that the file is converted into Word document file format, you can open the Word version and make any edits you want.
This is how you may open pdf in Word by first converting the file with a free online tool.
Method 4: Insert PDF to Word with Google Docs
Another easy way to open your pdf file in a Word document is to convert the file using Google Drive.
With this option, you first of all need to upload the pdf file into Google Drive, open it in Google Docs, and then Download it as a Microsoft Word document.
You don’t need any special pdf processor to do this. All you need is your web browser, your Gmail accounts and access to the internet.
If this option sounds cool for you, obey the instructions below:
- Login to your Google Drive account.
- To easily reach your Google Drive account, log in to your Gmail and navigate to the top right corner of your windows, click on the Google Apps button for the list of all the google apps and then choose Google drive from the apps. It will open in a new tab.
- Select New>Upload Files.
- Alternatively, click on My Drive drop-down and select Upload files.
- The file will be uploaded to your Google Drive. Now select the file and look at the top right corner of the window, you’ll see this three dotted line, click on it for more options. Select Open with > Google Docs.
- The PDF file will then open in google docs in a new tab.
- On the Google Doc window, go to File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx).
The file will be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document.
You can then open the downloaded file and enjoy.
Using Google Drive and Google Docs, these are the steps.
Method 5: Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to open pdf as Word
This method didn’t come first because the software involved is not free. However, you can try the free trial version for 7 days.
With Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can do anything with your pdf documents including opening it in other file formats such as Word/Excel/PowerPoint or even editing the pdf file.
If you have the Adobe Acrobat Pro installed on your pc, obey the instructions below to get the job done.
- Open the PDF file you want to insert into Word document.
- Click on the Export PDF tool on the right pane.
- In the Export dialog, choose Microsoft Word as your Export option.
- Then click Export.
- You’ll be asked to select the folder that will contain the exported files, do just that to begin the process.
- After the conversion is done, all the content in the PDF will be inserted into a new Microsoft Word document.
At this point, you can open and edit the content in the pdf right within the Word document.
This is how you may insert or open pdf files in Word.
Method 6: Insert pdf into Word as Images
Another way you could get your pdf pages into Microsoft Word is to insert the pdf as either PNG or JPG file format.
To do so, you need to, first of all, convert the pdf file into images, then using the insert tab, load the images into your Word document.
That is a lot of work though, but it still gets the job done.
Just Obey the following instructions:
- Click here to learn how to convert pdf to jpg.
After converting the pdf files, what is left is to insert the converted files into Microsoft Word.
To do so:
- Open your Word document where you want to insert the pdf.
- Go to the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, select picture to upload the converted images.
This is how you may insert pdf into a Word document as images.
Method 7: Insert pdf into Word by Copy and Paste
Use this approach if you want to insert only the content of the pdf into Word because you will lose all formatting and images (if any) when you copy and paste content from PDf to Word.
It involves selecting the content on the pdf file and then pasting it into your Microsoft Word document. Very simple.
Follow the steps below if this method sound right for you.
- Open both Microsoft Word and the PDF you want to insert.
- Go to the PDF and select all the content by press Ctrl+A.
- If you only want to insert portion or some pages of the pdf, select only that page or portion.
- After the selection, press Ctrl+C to copy.
- Alternatively, right-click on the selected text and select copy
- Switch over to Microsoft Word where you want to insert the PDF and press Ctrl+V to paste the copied content.
All the content you copy from the PDF document will be inserted into the Word document.
These are the 7 methods you can use to easily insert or open any pdf in Microsoft Word.