PDF to CSV Converter
Get the rows of a PDF table into a plain CSV that a budgeting app, an accounting import, a Python script or a database can read, instead of retyping figures from a report or a statement.
Data Converter
or drop CSV, TSV, TXT … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Character that separates columns in CSV and text files, for both reading and writing. Auto detects it from the input and writes commas.
UTF-8 works for every language. Choose UTF-8 with BOM if Excel on Windows shows garbled accents or Asian characters when opening the CSV.
Excel, ODS and Numbers input: convert the first sheet only, or every sheet (one CSV per sheet in a ZIP, or one JSON key per sheet).
Name of the sheet tab in the new spreadsheet, up to 31 characters.
Array of objects uses column names as keys for every row; array of arrays is more compact and keeps the header as the first array.
Name of the outer element that wraps all rows; each row becomes a <row> inside it.
Used in CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements. Letters, digits and underscores only.
Quoting and column types differ slightly between databases; pick the one you will import into.
Rewrite date cells in one format. ISO (2026-10-18) is safest for databases and code; keep leaves them as they appear in the source.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the PDF
Drop one or more PDF files on the upload area, up to 20 per batch and 95 MB each. The PDF needs real text in it, not just a scanned picture.
- 2
Check dates and spacing
Dates starts on ISO (2026-10-18) and Trim spaces is on, which suits most imports. Change Delimiter to semicolon or tab under Advanced settings if your target needs it.
- 3
Convert and check the rows
Press Convert to CSV, download the file and look over the first and last rows before importing it.
Why a PDF table is hard to copy into a CSV
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 to make a page look identical on any printer and screen, and it became the open standard ISO 32000-1 in 2008. Its job is placing glyphs at exact coordinates. Most PDFs contain no table at all in the data sense: a statement is a set of text fragments that happen to line up in columns, plus lines drawn between them.
That is why copying a table from a PDF viewer into a spreadsheet so often pastes everything into one column, or merges the amount with the description. Tagged PDF, introduced in PDF 1.4 in 2001 and required by the accessibility standard PDF/UA (ISO 14289), can mark up real table cells, but bank systems and reporting tools rarely produce it. A converter has to rebuild the grid from positions instead.
How the PDF to CSV conversion rebuilds rows
Read the text layer
Each word is taken with its position on the page, so nothing is guessed from pixels.
Find columns and rows
Words that share a vertical band form a column; words on one baseline form a row.
Write clean CSV
Fields are quoted where needed, dates normalized and spaces trimmed.
| from ↓ · to → | CSV here | XLSX here | Image to Excel (OCR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF saved from software | PDF saved from software to CSV here: yes | PDF saved from software to XLSX here: yes | PDF saved from software to Image to Excel (OCR): yes |
| Excel or Word printed to PDF | Excel or Word printed to PDF to CSV here: yes | Excel or Word printed to PDF to XLSX here: yes | Excel or Word printed to PDF to Image to Excel (OCR): yes |
| Scanned paper statement | – Scanned paper statement to CSV here: no | – Scanned paper statement to XLSX here: no | Scanned paper statement to Image to Excel (OCR): yes |
| Phone photo of a table | – Phone photo of a table to CSV here: no | – Phone photo of a table to XLSX here: no | Phone photo of a table to Image to Excel (OCR): yes |
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
CSV
Comma-separated values
CSV is a plain-text format for tables in which each line is a row and commas separate the columns. It has been used since the early days of computing and is described in RFC 4180, though many variants use semicolons or tabs and different text encodings. Nearly every spreadsheet, database and analytics tool can import and export it, which makes it the default format for moving data between systems. CSV stores only values, with no formulas, formatting, multiple sheets or data types.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- –
PDF to CSV is about getting figures back into a machine: a statement, a price list or a research table was published as a PDF for reading, and now a script, an accounting system or a database needs the same numbers as rows.
PDF to CSV for statements, price lists and reports
Bank and card statements are the most common source. Many banks offer a CSV or OFX download for recent months but only PDFs for older statements, so anyone importing a year of history into YNAB, a spreadsheet budget or an accountant's software ends up converting PDFs. Keep Dates on ISO so the import does not mix up day and month.
Supplier price lists and stock reports are the second group: a wholesaler sends a PDF catalogue, and the store owner needs SKUs and prices as rows to update a shop. Researchers and journalists pull tables from government and annual reports to analyze them in R or pandas, where CSV is the natural input. If your pipeline wants structured records rather than flat rows, PDF to JSON writes the same table as objects with the header names as keys.
Always compare totals before trusting the result. A sum in the CSV that matches the total printed in the PDF is the quickest proof that no row was split or skipped.
PDF to CSV questions
Why does my PDF to CSV conversion come back empty?
The PDF most likely holds pictures of pages rather than text, which is what a scanner or a phone camera produces. Try selecting a word in your PDF viewer: if nothing highlights, there is no text to extract. Run the file through the image to Excel tool instead, which reads tables with OCR.
Can I import the CSV into QuickBooks Online?
Yes, QuickBooks Online accepts bank transactions as a CSV in a three-column (date, description, amount) or four-column (date, description, credit, debit) layout. Delete any columns beyond those in the CSV, keep one header row and make sure the dates use one consistent format.
The table repeats its header on every page. Will that show up?
Usually yes, because the repeated header is real text on each page. After conversion, sort or filter the CSV and delete the extra header lines, or remove them in your import tool if it supports skipping rows.
Is CSV or Excel the better output for a PDF table?
CSV is the better choice when another program will import the data, because it carries nothing but values. Choose PDF to Excel when a person will read and edit the table, since a workbook keeps several tables apart on separate sheets.
Can a password-protected PDF be converted?
Not while it is locked, because the text cannot be read until the password is removed. If you know the password, run the file through unlock PDF first and convert the unlocked copy.
