PDF to excel, then formula to get information

Copper Contributor

I am a beginner level user.  I am importing a PDF into excel and it puts data into separate cells.  On another sheet there are rows I want to get the data from the PDF and into those cells and I don't want to always have to copy/paste or reference the cells manually.  This is coming from orders that our vendor gives us in PDF format that I am importing.  I am not sure the best way to make this as automated as possible so am just looking for advice.  This import can have different number of rows each time so I can't just put in a formula on my main page to look at it, but the columns will always be the same.  I don't know anything more automated than referencing the parts list cell each time I import a new PDF so hoping for any ideas.  Thank you

2 Replies
I understand your situation. Automating the process of importing data from a PDF into Excel can save you a lot of time and effort. Here are some methods that might help:

Excel’s Built-In PDF Import Feature: Excel has a built-in feature to import data from a PDF. You can find this under the ‘Data’ tab > ‘Get Data’ > ‘From File’ > ‘From PDF’.
After selecting your PDF, you can customize the import settings as necessary for your data.

Power Query: Power Query in Excel also has the ability to import data from a PDF file.
It even detects tables of structured data within PDF pages.

Power Automate: Microsoft’s Power Automate (formerly known as Flow) can be used to create workflows that automate data extraction from PDFs and input into Excel34.
This might involve some setup and learning if you’re new to Power Automate, but it could be a powerful solution once set up.

Third-Party Tools: There are also third-party tools like Docparser that offer more advanced features for automating PDF data extraction to Excel.

Remember, automation can sometimes require a bit of setup at the beginning, but once it’s done, it can save you a lot of time in the long run.
I hope this helps! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask.

@suraj786 

Thank you. I am using PDF import function currently.  I have not used power query but will check on that as an option.