Moving PDF tables into older Excel (2016 and earlier)
With an older Excel, the steps you find online often don't match your screen. This guide covers how to check your version and what options exist.
1. Check your Excel version
Go to File → Account (or Help) → About Excel. Names like "2016", "2019", "2021" are one-time-purchase versions; "Microsoft 365" is the subscription.
2. Excel's built-in "From PDF"
Some versions have Data → Get Data → From File → From PDF. This menu is in Microsoft 365 but not in Excel 2016 or 2019 (Excel 2021 and 2024 vary by edition). If you don't see it, use one of the options below.
- Reference (Microsoft): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/power-query-data-sources-in-excel-versions-e9332067-8e49-46fc-97ff-f2e1bfa0cb16
3. Going through Word
Word 2013 and later can open a PDF and convert it into an editable document. Tables often stay tables, but results depend on the PDF. Copy the table from Word into Excel. Scanned PDFs don't work this way either.
4. Using the converter
Files from this site's converter are saved with:
- the standard .xlsx format used since Excel 2007
- values only (no formulas or newer-version-only functions)
- dates stored as serial numbers with a display format
So the files use a standard format that opens in Excel 2007 and later.
5. After opening
- Green triangles on number cells? → Fix numbers stored as text
- Do totals match the original? → How to check a converted table
Open the converter · Related: Why PDF tables break in Excel
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