Formatting Issues

How to Fix Reversed Arabic Text After PDF to Excel Conversion

Bushra Parveen Oct 10, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user needs to correct Arabic text that appears backwards or fragmented in an Excel spreadsheet after converting it from a PDF document.

How to Fix Reversed Arabic Text After PDF to Excel Conversion

Product: Excel
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Converting a PDF document containing Arabic text into an editable Excel format.
Observed behavior: The right-to-left text direction is not interpreted correctly during conversion, causing the Arabic text to be reversed or split across multiple cells.

Before you start

Ensure your spreadsheet software is configured to support right-to-left (RTL) languages like Arabic, and keep a backup of the original converted file in case you need to revert any formatting changes.

Solution 1Recommended

Use the Text to Columns Feature to Reset Cell Formatting

Applying the Text to Columns tool with a general format can often reset how Excel interprets the underlying text direction of the imported data.

This method clears hidden delimiter errors from the PDF conversion process and resets the data format to general, which helps Excel properly apply native right-to-left reading rules.

Select the Affected Data

Click the column header or highlight all the cells containing the reversed Arabic text.

Open Text to Columns

Navigate to the 'Data' tab on the top ribbon and click on 'Text to Columns'.

Choose Delimited Option

In the wizard that appears, select the 'Delimited' radio button and click 'Next'.

Clear All Delimiters

Make sure all delimiter checkboxes (like Space, Tab, or Comma) are unchecked, then click 'Next'.

Apply General Format

Choose 'General' as the Column data format and click 'Finish' to apply the changes.

Adjust Alignment Settings

Right-click the corrected cells, select 'Format Cells', go to the 'Alignment' tab, and ensure 'Text direction' is set to 'Right-to-Left'.

Use the Text to Columns Feature to Reset Cell Formatting

Quick Formatting Tip: Once formatting is corrected, use the 'Format Painter' tool to quickly apply these right-to-left settings to other columns.

Solution 2

Manually Combine Split Cells in the Correct Order

If the PDF conversion fragmented a single line of Arabic text into multiple adjacent cells backwards, you must combine them into a single cell manually.

Flawless PDF to Excel Conversion

Use WPS Office for Better Right-to-Left Language Support

WPS Office features an advanced, built-in PDF to Excel converter that more accurately interprets right-to-left text directions. By using WPS Office, you can avoid reversed Arabic text issues entirely and seamlessly edit your data in a highly compatible spreadsheet environment.

1. Open Your PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open the original PDF file containing the Arabic text.
2. Select PDF to Excel: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab and click on the 'PDF to Excel' option.
3. Start the Conversion: Choose your desired export path and click 'Convert'. WPS Office will smartly process the text direction.
4. Edit Your Spreadsheet: Open the newly converted Excel file directly in WPS Spreadsheet; the Arabic text should display correctly from right to left.

Accurate PDF to Excel conversions that preserve right-to-left text directionExcellent native support for formatting Arabic and other RTL languagesFully compatible with Microsoft Excel formats (.xlsx and .xls)Free, lightweight, and easy-to-use alternative to Microsoft Office

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Arabic text reverse when converting from PDF to Excel?

Most standard PDF converters extract text linearly from left to right. Because Arabic is a right-to-left (RTL) language, converters lacking proper RTL processing read the characters backwards, placing them into Excel in reverse order.

How do I permanently set Excel to read Right-to-Left for Arabic?

You can change cell alignment by highlighting the data, right-clicking, and selecting 'Format Cells'. Under the 'Alignment' tab, find the 'Text direction' drop-down and change it from 'Context' or 'Left-to-Right' to 'Right-to-Left'.

Is there a way to prevent reversed text before doing the PDF conversion?

Yes. Using a dedicated PDF converter that explicitly supports Arabic and RTL languages, or performing an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) scan specifically set to the Arabic language prior to extraction, significantly reduces formatting errors.

Document & File Issues