How to Bulk Combine PDF Files to Excel Without Losing Formatting - Agio (2024)

The Power Query merge tool is the best way to bulk combine PDFs into Excel files. This automatic process preserves the original formatting and takes less time. Follow these steps to use Power Query." } }}
You can get table data from several PDFs into one Excel sheet by copying and pasting the data or manually typing it into the spreadsheet. However, these methods are not ideal. They do not keep the original formatting, and errors can occur in transcription.

The Power Query merge tool is the best way to bulk combine PDFs into Excel files. This automatic process preserves the original formatting and takes less time. Follow these steps to use Power Query.

1. Put the PDFs in a Folder

Move all the PDF files into one folder. This step allows you to bring all the PDFs into Excel at the same time.

2. Open the Excel Workbook

Open a new Excel worksheet or an existing spreadsheet where you want the combined table to generate.

3. Select the PDF Folder in Excel

Click on the “Data” tab, then “Get Data.” In the drop-down menu, hover over “From File,” then choose “From Folder.” In the File Explorer dialog, choose the folder with your PDFs and click “Open.”

4. Transform the Data

Once the PDFs are selected, Power Query previews the metadata for each PDF in the folder. Click “Transform Data,” and the metadata appears in the Power Query Editor window.

5. Extract the PDF Content

The previous steps pull the PDFs’ metadata instead of the file contents. Extract the PDF data by clicking the “Expand Binaries” button — the double-down arrows in the top-right area of the “Content” column.

The Combine Files dialog box shows the tables and pages from all PDFs. Excel automatically selects the first file in the PDF folder as the sample file. Excel uses the sample file as the template for the table that generates in the spreadsheet.

Preview the table and page from the sample file, then click “OK” to combine all the PDF data.

6. Append the Results

As Power Query appends the results, it applies the routine from the sample file to all of the PDFs in the folder. After going through the PDFs, all the data appears combined in the spreadsheet. The columns in the spreadsheet should match your PDF.

7. Send the Data to the Workbook

In the “Home” tab, click “Close & Load” in the “Close” group to send the data to a table in your Excel worksheet.

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How to Bulk Combine PDF Files to Excel Without Losing Formatting - Agio (2024)

FAQs

How to Bulk Combine PDF Files to Excel Without Losing Formatting - Agio? ›

Upload all your PDF documents at once in the Parseur app. The documents will be processed and sent to Excel automatically.

How do I convert a PDF to Excel without losing formulas? ›

How to convert PDF files into Excel spreadsheets:
  1. Open a PDF file in Acrobat.
  2. Click the “Export PDF” tool in the right pane.
  3. Choose “spreadsheet” as your export format and then select “Microsoft Excel Workbook.”
  4. Click “Export.” If your PDF documents contain scanned text, Acrobat will run text recognition automatically.

Can I convert multiple PDFs to Excel at once? ›

Upload all your PDF documents at once in the Parseur app. The documents will be processed and sent to Excel automatically.

Can you merge a PDF and Excel together? ›

Create merged PDFs. Use the Combine Files tool to merge Word, Excel, PowerPoint, audio, or video files, web pages, or existing PDFs. Acrobat lets you preview and arrange the documents and pages before creating the file.

How to Copy from PDF to Excel and keep formatting? ›

Here are seven steps to copy data from a PDF to Excel:
  1. Open the PDF into Word. ...
  2. Convert the document and click "Enable Editing" ...
  3. Copy the data from the document. ...
  4. Open the correct Excel spreadsheet. ...
  5. Paste the data into Excel. ...
  6. Format the information. ...
  7. Title and save the spreadsheet. ...
  8. Use small files.
Jun 24, 2022

How do I import multiple PDF pages into Excel? ›

How to Bulk Combine PDF Files to Excel Without Losing Formatting
  1. Put the PDFs in a Folder. Move all the PDF files into one folder. ...
  2. Open the Excel Workbook. ...
  3. Select the PDF Folder in Excel. ...
  4. Transform the Data. ...
  5. Extract the PDF Content. ...
  6. Append the Results. ...
  7. Send the Data to the Workbook.
Sep 28, 2023

How do you save Excel as PDF and keep formatting? ›

Change advanced settings in Excel.

Once you're happy with the formatting, go to File, then select Save As and choose the PDF option. Alternatively, you can save as a PDF from the Print Preview menu. Another way to prevent issues is to make adjustments in the Page Layout tab.

How do I import data from a PDF into Excel? ›

Import PDF data into Excel
  1. Open an Excel sheet.
  2. Data tab > Get Data drop-down > From File > From PDF.
  3. Select your PDF file & click Import.
  4. You'll now see a Navigator pane displaying the tables & pages in your PDF along with a preview.
  5. Select a table & click Load.
6 days ago

Can I convert a PDF to Excel without Adobe? ›

Converting a PDF to Excel without using Adobe Acrobat can be done in several different ways. The most common approach is to use an online PDF to Excel converter such as Xodo.

How do I convert all pages of a PDF to Excel? ›

How to convert a PDF to Excel online
  1. Click the Select a file button above or drag and drop a PDF into the drop zone.
  2. Select the PDF you want to convert to the XLSX file format.
  3. Watch Acrobat automatically convert your PDF to Excel.
  4. Download the converted file or sign in to share it.

How do I convert multiple PDF files at once? ›

Open Adobe Acrobat Pro. Check your conversion settings to make sure they match what you want for your batch. Choose File > Create > Create Multiple PDF Files. Choose Add Files and then use the dropdown menu at the top of the window to indicate if you'll be choosing files or folders.

How to convert PDF to Excel without losing formatting? ›

Convert PDF to Excel through Word
  1. Copy the source table from a PDF file. Open the PDF file in Adobe Reader, or any other PDF viewer, select the table you want to convert to Excel and press Ctrl + C to copy it to the clipboard.
  2. Paste the table into a Word document. ...
  3. Copy the table from Word to Excel.
Mar 22, 2023

Does Microsoft have a PDF merge tool? ›

With Microsoft Syntex, you can merge two or more PDF files into a new PDF file, or you can extract pages from a PDF file to make new individual PDF files.

Does Microsoft have a PDF to Excel Converter? ›

RE: Convert PDF to Excel

Click on the “Export PDF” tool in the right pane. Choose “spreadsheet” as your export format, and then select “Microsoft Excel Workbook.” Click “Export.” If your PDF contains scanned text, Acrobat will run text recognition automatically.

How do I convert a PDF to a document without losing formatting? ›

In the “Save As” dialog box, click on the “Settings” button to configure the conversion options. Step 4. In the Conversion Settings window, make sure to check “Retain Page Layout.” This ensures that the formatting of the PDF document will be preserved in the resulting Word document.

How do I Copy a PDF without losing formatting? ›

Choose Edit > Copy to copy the selected text to another application. Right-click on the selected text, and then select Copy. Right-click on the selected text, and then choose Copy With Formatting. You can paste the copied text into comments, bookmarks, and documents authored in other applications.

How do I import a PDF file to Excel? ›

Import PDF data into Excel
  1. Open an Excel sheet.
  2. Data tab > Get Data drop-down > From File > From PDF.
  3. Select your PDF file & click Import.
  4. You'll now see a Navigator pane displaying the tables & pages in your PDF along with a preview.
  5. Select a table & click Load.
4 days ago

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