PDF Conversion Issues

How to Fix Extra Spaces When Exporting PDF Text to Excel or TXT

Khadija Khan Oct 22, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where text exported from a PDF into an Excel spreadsheet or TXT file contains abnormal spaces between individual letters, which prevents the data from being imported into a database correctly.

How to Fix Extra Spaces When Exporting PDF Text to Excel or TXT

Product: PDF Editor
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Extracting text from a PDF document to Excel or a plain text file for the purpose of database importing.
Observed behavior: The exported text contains random, extra spaces between letters, disrupting the data structure and formatting.

Before you start

Verify whether your PDF contains a standard text layer or if it is a scanned image, as PDFs with absolute text positioning or corrupted font encodings often require OCR to extract clean text.

Solution 1Recommended

Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to Re-extract the Text

Running an OCR process on the PDF bypasses the underlying font encoding errors by visually scanning and recognizing the text characters afresh.

Extra spaces often appear because the original PDF was created with software that places characters using exact visual coordinates rather than standard text spacing. Standard text extraction misinterprets these coordinate gaps as space characters.

Using OCR creates a brand new text layer based on the visual appearance of the words, which generally eliminates artificial spacing errors.

Open the PDF with an OCR-enabled Editor

Launch your PDF software (such as WPS Office or Adobe Acrobat) and open the problematic PDF document.

Activate the OCR Feature

Navigate to the 'Tools' menu and select the 'OCR' or 'Recognize Text' option. Ensure you set the document language correctly.

Select the Output Format

Choose 'Extract to Excel' or 'Extract to TXT' as your target output format within the OCR dialog box.

Run Conversion

Click 'Convert' or 'Start' to process the document. Check the resulting file to ensure the extra spaces between letters have been resolved.

Use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to Re-extract the Text

OCR Accuracy: For the best OCR results, ensure your PDF has a high resolution (at least 300 DPI if it was originally scanned).

Solution 2

Clean Up the Extracted Data Directly in Excel

If you cannot re-export the PDF using OCR, you can fix the spacing issue on the already exported data using Excel's built-in cleanup tools.

Advanced PDF Tools

Convert PDF to Excel Accurately with WPS Office

WPS Office features a robust PDF-to-Excel converter powered by advanced OCR technology. It seamlessly bypasses font encoding errors to give you perfectly formatted spreadsheets without extra spaces, ready for immediate database import.

1. Open PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office, select 'PDF', and open the document you wish to extract data from.
2. Select PDF to Excel: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab on the top ribbon and click the 'PDF to Excel' button.
3. Enable OCR Settings: In the conversion pop-up, check the 'OCR' box to ensure the software visually recognizes the text rather than relying on flawed PDF encoding.
4. Convert and Save: Click 'Convert'. Once finished, the clean Excel file will open automatically without the extra spaces.

Built-in OCR technology extracts text cleanly without letter-spacing errorsBatch conversion directly to fully compatible XLSX or TXT formatsRetains original table structures and formatting automaticallyHigh format compatibility with Microsoft Excel

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do PDFs add extra spaces between letters when exported?

This happens when the PDF is generated using specific print-to-PDF drivers that position characters using absolute coordinates instead of standard text wrapping, or when the document has a corrupted or non-standard font encoding.

What does a 'true text layer' mean in a PDF?

A true text layer contains embedded, encoded characters that software can seamlessly read and copy. If a PDF lacks this or the layer is corrupted, extraction tools read coordinate gaps as spaces, requiring OCR to fix.

Can I remove extra spaces in a TXT file without using Excel?

Yes. You can open the TXT file in a text editor like Notepad++, press 'Ctrl + H' to open Find and Replace, enter a single space in the 'Find what' field, leave 'Replace with' empty, and click 'Replace All'.

Will using OCR alter the table structure of my Excel file?

High-quality PDF editors are designed to reconstruct rows and columns based on visual lines and spacing. While minor adjustments might occasionally be necessary, OCR typically preserves the overall table structure well.

PDF Troubleshooting