How to Extract Specific Data from PDF to Excel

This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido and by wikiHow staff writer, Sam Browning. Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

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There are many ways to convert an entire PDF to an Excel document, but extracting only a certain section of data is a little harder. Thankfully, there are still a few different ways to do so, including manually copying and pasting the data, using free online tools like Docparser, and using paid tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and PanaForma. This wikiHow article will teach you how to export specific data in a PDF to Excel.

Method 1 of 4:

Using Copy and Paste

Step 1 Open the PDF in your PDF reader.

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Open the PDF in your PDF reader. Double-clicking the PDF file will automatically open it in your default PDF reader, such as Preview for macOS or Edge for Windows.

Step 2 Select the data <a href=you would like to extract from a PDF." width="460" height="345" />

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Select the data you would like to extract from a PDF. You can select the data by clicking and dragging from the top left of a section to the bottom right. The section should now be highlighted.

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Step 3 Copy the data to your clipboard.

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Step 4 Open an Excel document and select a number of cells.

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Step 5 Paste the data into the Excel document.

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Using Docparser

Step 1 Sign up for.

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Step 2 Click Create Document Parser.

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\n"> Click Create Document Parser . This blue button is located in the bottom middle of your screen.

Step 3 Type in a name and select a template.

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Step 4 Upload a PDF and click Continue.

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Step 5 Watch or skip the parsing rules video.

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Step 6 Follow the tips as they appear on screen.

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Follow the tips as they appear on screen. Docparser will start by having you pick the Text Variable Position rule preset, then naming your rule. It will then explain the data that was parsed, where to add filters and narrow that data down, and how to see a preview of your filtered data.

Step 7 Add text filters and adjust each using the “Filtered Result” boxes below.

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Step 8 Click Save Parsing Rule.

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Click Save Parsing Rule . This green button is in the bottom right of the screen and has a small white check mark icon.

Step 9 Make another parsing rule or leave the editor.

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Make another parsing rule or leave the editor. If you are done creating rules, click the gray Leave Parsing Editor button. Otherwise, click the blue Create Another Parsing Rule button and continue making rules, then leave the editor and move to the next step.

Step 10 Click the checkbox next to your document’s name.

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\n"> Click the checkbox next to your document’s name. A black check mark should appear.

Step 11 Select Move To Parse Queue from the Perform Action dropdown menu.

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Select Move To Parse Queue from the Perform Action dropdown menu. The dropdown menu can be found at the top left of your screen, directly above the name of your document.

Step 12 Click Ok, wait a minute, and refresh the page.

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Click Ok , wait a minute, and refresh the page. If you do not see your document, it is likely still parsing. Try waiting another minute and switching between tabs in the document parser.

Step 13 Press the file name.

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Press the file name. This button is on the left side of the page and has an arrow pointing down into technology as its icon.

Step 14 Click Excel Download.

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Using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

Step 1 Open the desired PDF with Acrobat.

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Step 2 Select the data <a href=you would like to extract." width="460" height="345" />

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Select the data you would like to extract. You can select the data by clicking and dragging from the top left of a section to the bottom right. The section should now be highlighted. [6] X Research source

<a href=Step 3 Right-click your selection and choose Export Selection As…." width="460" height="345" />

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Right-click your selection and choose Export Selection As… . A new window should appear with a variety of options for exporting the chosen portion of your PDF. [7] X Research source

Step 4 Select the XLSX format from the Save As Type list and click Save.

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Select the XLSX format from the Save As Type list and click Save . You should now have an Excel spreadsheet with specific data from your PDF! [8] X Research source

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Using PanaForma

PanaForma is useful when you have many documents in the same format from which you want to extract data.

Step 1 Download and install.

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Download and install the PanaForma app (Windows only) - PanaForma has a one-month free trial, and there's no obligation to continue with a paid plan.

Step 2 Open the PanaForma app, and click Add Folder.

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Open the PanaForma app, and click Add Folder . This button is located in the top left corner of the app window. In the folder picker, choose the folder on your computer where your PDF files are stored.

Step 3 With the folder added, expand the folder tree to locate the first PDF file you will <a href=extract data from." width="460" height="345" />

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With the folder added, expand the folder tree to locate the first PDF file you will extract data from. Click the file name in the tree to open the file. You will use this file to create a Template that you will apply to extract data from all the PDFs that share the same format.

Step 4 In the right-hand panel of the app, give your new Template a name, and click Create.

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\n"> In the right-hand panel of the app, give your new Template a name, and click Create .

Step 5 Using the mouse, drag a selection box around each data field on the page that you want to extract.

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Using the mouse, drag a selection box around each data field on the page that you want to extract. In this example, five data fields have been selected.

Step 6 Once you

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Once you've selected all the data fields in your Template, give each field a distinctive name in the right-hand panel.

Step 7 Now apply you Template to all the required PDFs.

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Now apply you Template to all the required PDFs. To do this, select each PDF in the left-hand panel file tree, then select your Template in the "Apply existing Template" drop-down on the right-hand panel, and click Ok . After applying the Template, you can move or resize each field on the page if required, or make manual edits to the extracted data values in the right-hand panel.

Step 8 When you

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When you've applied your Template to all required PDFs, go to the "Data Extracts" screen using the navigation button on the left side of the app. Click Export Data in the top-left tool bar. If you don't have a subscription yet, you will need to begin a free trial. The trial lasts one month, and if you cancel during the trial period you will not proceed to a paid plan when the trial ends. In the export dialog, there are a number of options to control the rows/columns exported, and the file format. Choose the options you need, and click Export . In the file dialog, choose a location to save the output file. Open the file in Excel to review the extracted data.

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