Forum Discussion
Convert PDF to Editable Word Document
I’m running macOS Monterey 12.2.1 and just upgraded to Office 2021 for Mac with a perpetual license (as opposed to Office 365).
I want to open a PDF within Word (version 16.58, build 22021501) so that I can edit it.
Yes, I already read this page:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/opening-pdfs-in-word-1d1d2acc-afa0-46ef-891d-b76bcd83d9c8
The first time I tried to open a PDF in Word, I was presented with this warning:
The PDF is a tax return with sensitive information so I clicked “Don’t Allow.” Now every time I try to open a PDF with Word, I get this “Convert File” dialog, but PDF is NOT one of the listed formats:
Here’s how opening a PDF is supposed to work on Word for Windows:
How are PDFs supposed to convert to editable Word documents on a Mac? This post from 2015 indicates that the Mac version of Word (at that time) couldn’t open PDFs locally and had to be done from Word Online using an Office 365 subscription:
Is this the real problem: Is Word for Mac 2021 unable to open PDFs locally?
If Word for Mac can’t convert PDFs to an editable document locally, then how do I upload the PDF for conversion online? I’ve already authorized the “Connected Experience” in Word → Preferences → Privacy → Manage Connected Experiences
Do I also need to make a change via Terminal, as alluded to here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/privacy/mac-privacy-preferences
Or is the problem that an Office 365 subscription is required for online conversion? Can’t perpetual licenses upload and convert PDFs to editable Word documents?
Thank you for reading this long post.
- sandeepsinghdhuriCopper Contributor
To resolve the issue, go to Word's general settings and uncheck the first option, "Confirm file format conversion on open."Nello_L