How to Fix Hyphens Disappearing When Copying Text from Word PDFs
Question details
Users experience disappearing hyphens or dashes when copying text from a PDF that was originally exported from Microsoft Word.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Copying text from a PDF document to paste into another application or text editor.
- Observed behavior
- Hyphens and dashes that are visually present in the PDF document do not appear in the pasted text due to underlying font encoding issues.
Ensure you have access to the original Word document, as resolving this encoding issue requires re-exporting the file with adjusted settings or fonts.
Change the Font and Re-export to PDF
Using standard, highly compatible fonts can resolve character encoding problems that occur during the PDF export process.
Sometimes specific fonts lack proper Unicode mapping when Microsoft Word converts the document to PDF. This causes characters like hyphens to render visually but fail to translate as text when copied.
Open your original document in Word and press Ctrl + A to select all text.
Change the document font to a widely supported option known for good encoding, such as Calibri, Courier New, or DejaVu Sans Mono.
Navigate to File > Save As, choose your save destination, and select PDF from the 'Save as type' dropdown menu.
Open the newly created PDF, select a sentence containing hyphens, copy it, and paste it into a plain text editor to verify the characters are retained.
Use the 'Print to PDF' Method
Using the system's PDF printer bypasses Word's built-in Save As engine, which might process special characters and hyphens correctly.
Export Flawless PDFs with WPS Office
Avoid text copying errors and missing characters by using WPS Office. Its built-in PDF converter ensures high-fidelity text encoding so hyphens, dashes, and special formatting are preserved perfectly when extracted.
- 1. Open the Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your original Word document.
- 2. Export to PDF: Click on 'Menu' in the top-left corner and select 'Export to PDF'.
- 3. Adjust Settings and Save: Choose your desired save location in the dialog box and click 'Export'.
- 4. Verify Text: Open the exported PDF in WPS PDF to easily copy and paste text with all characters, including hyphens, perfectly intact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do characters change or disappear when copying from a PDF?
This happens when the PDF does not have proper font mapping or Unicode encoding embedded during its creation. Visually, the characters render correctly using graphical shapes, but the underlying text data cannot be interpreted correctly by your computer's clipboard.
Can I fix missing hyphens without the original Word document?
Fixing the encoding directly within the PDF is very difficult without professional PDF editing software. However, you can use an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool to extract the text visually from the PDF, which bypasses the broken font encoding.
Does the Microsoft Office version affect PDF text encoding?
Yes, older versions of Office or outdated PDF add-ins may contain bugs related to font embedding and Unicode mapping. Updating to the latest Office version or using an alternative suite like WPS Office can resolve these export glitches.
