Convert PDF to Google Docs and vice versa

Did you know there is a quick way to convert PDF to Google Docs? The reason why would you want to do that is so you can have a text-ready version of your document always available on your Google Drive and edit it when needed. In this guide, we’re going to teach you how to convert a PDF file to Google Docs and convert a doc file to a PDF format.

Keep in mind that conversion has its challenges as much as it has its benefits. At times you might end up losing the formatting, at other times the style might look very different. However, conversion has its benefits especially if you want to copy text or edit text which is not otherwise possible directly in a PDF. There are obviously ways to maintain the formatting and style of the document during conversion that we will discuss in detail here.

Things to know before you convert

Before you start the conversion it is essential to cover the following checklist.

• Please make sure your PDF file is not corrupted. One way to check this is to manually open the file and glance through the text to make sure everything looks fine and in place.
• Validate that all information is in place. For example, if it is an agreement and there are blank fields just confirm that all fields have been added with text.
• Make sure that you have a backup of the PDF file. This will save you from any trouble in case something goes wrong during the conversion and you need to use the PDF file again.

Ready for Action: Convert your PDF to Google Docs Format

The easiest and quickest way to convert a PDF file to Google Docs format is to just upload it to Google Drive. Here’s how to go about it:

• Open Google Drive and check the picture icon on the top-right to make sure you are signed in to the right account.
• Create a folder to “Convert to PDF”. We recommend this so you don’t lose track of your files.
• Inside the folder, right-click to open the menu and select “Upload Files” and then pick your PDF file.
• Once the PDF has been uploaded, right-click on the file to open the menu and select Open with > Google Docs.
• The PDF file will automatically convert to Google Docs ready for you to edit.

For a very simple PDF document with text like in the example above the conversion should be simple. However keep in mind that during conversion you might see some changes, e.g.

• Double spaces might become single
• In some cases the indentation might get removed
• Background images are separated into a page

Convert PDF to DOCX and then to Google Docs

Another way to convert PDF to DOCX is to first convert it to DOCX and then upload that file to Google Drive and convert it to Google Docs. You might be wondering why would you want to do this? That’s because in some cases if the PDF has a complex structure with images and graphics then it might not convert properly directly into Google Docs.

So the best option is to convert it to DOCX using an online converter and then convert it to Google Docs. Here we will teach how to do it:

• First, find a PDF that you want to convert. In the example here we have a Lease Agreement
• Open the online converter PDF2DOCX and upload your PDF file there
• Once it’s uploaded just download the converted DOCX file to a folder
• Open Google Drive, navigate to a folder, and upload your downloaded DOCX file there
• Once uploaded, right-click on the file and click on Open with > Google Docs
• Once the file opens up click on menu File > Save as Google Docs

That’s it. Now you will be able to edit the file as a Google Docs file.

Keep in mind that Google Docs does not automatically convert DOCX unless you have set that in your Settings so once a DOCX file is uploaded you will have to manually save it as Google Docs.

Convert Google Docs to PDF

Now that you have learned how to convert a PDF to Google Docs you can also go vice versa. Google Docs has an amazing built-in feature to convert any document to a PDF document.

Click on the menu and look for File > Download > PDF Document to convert any Google Docs file to PDF right away.

That’s it. I hope you learned a bunch. There is also a neat little trick to share links to PDF versions of your files.

We have more guides for Google Docs. For example if you are looking to learn how to add a subscript, or delete a page, or activate Google Docs word count. You will find it all on this blog. Keep learning!