How to Convert a Microsoft Word Document to PDF

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Do you want to convert your Word document into an easy-to-send PDF file? PDFs are compatible with all platforms, so turning your Word document into a PDF ensures that more people can open the file. It's incredibly easy to convert a Word document to PDF—we'll show you how to do it on any Windows PC or Mac!

Use the Export or Save As feature to convert DOCX to PDF within Microsoft Word. You can also upload your Word document to Google Drive, open it in Google Docs, and then download it as a PDF. Adobe Acrobat Online also offers a web-based Word-to-PDF converter that's free to use.

Using Word on Windows

• If you haven't yet created the document, open Word, then click Blank document and create the document as needed before proceeding.

Click the Create PDF/XPS button. This button is on the right side of the menu. The "Publish as PDF or XPS" dialog will appear. [1] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

• Since the PDF is a different file type than the Word document, you can store the PDF in the same file location as the Word file.
• You can also enter a new file name in the "File name" text box if you like.

Click Publish . It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. This will convert the Word document to the PDF format.

Using Word on Mac

Click the File menu. It's in the upper-left corner of your Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear.

• Be sure to enter a file name that's different from the Word document you're converting. If you use the same file name, Word will overwrite the existing file with the PDF, making it so you can no longer edit the file. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source

Using Adobe Acrobat Online

Go to https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/word-to-pdf.html in your web browser. This free tool from Adobe makes it easy to convert Word documents to the PDF format without installing any software.

Drag your Word document to the box. Alternatively, you can click the blue Select a file button to select the Word document from your computer. Adobe Acrobat Online will immediately start converting the Word document to a PDF.

• Depending on your web browser, you may need to click Save or OK to start the download.

Using Google Drive

• If you aren't logged in, click Go to Google Drive, then enter your email address and password when prompted.

Click File upload . It's in the drop-down menu. Doing this will open either a File Explorer (Windows) or a Finder (Mac) window.

• On a Mac, you may click Choose here instead.

Open the Word document. Once the Word file finishes uploading to Google Drive, double-click it in Google Drive, then click Open with Google Docs at the top to open it in your browser.

• On a Mac, make sure you're clicking File in your browser window and not in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

• The file may download automatically on some browsers. On others, you'll need to select a saving location and click Save or OK to download the file.

Community Q&A

A special type of software (technically called add-in) has the ability to convert Microsoft Word documents to PDF. However, Word 2007 does not include this add-in by default. To convert to PDF with Microsoft Word 2007, you have to download the add-in from Microsoft's website.

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Open up your PDF document and select "Save as --> Word Document." You'll need to clean it up afterwards (remove paragraph signs, reformat, etc.).

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The latest versions (after MS Office 2007) allow you to save the document as a pdf, thus avoiding formatting errors. Go to Files->Save As and select ".pdf format" from Save As Type. Click to save.

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