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How to Fix Garbled Text When Converting PDF to Excel
Question details
The user experiences garbled, coded, or unreadable text when converting a PDF document into an Excel spreadsheet.
- Product
- PDF to Excel Converter
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Converting a PDF file containing tables or data into an Excel format for editing.
- Observed behavior
- The resulting Excel file displays garbled, unreadable characters instead of the expected text, likely due to unsupported fonts, encoding, or scanned content in the original PDF.
Check if the original PDF is a scanned document rather than a native text-based PDF by attempting to highlight individual words. If you can only select the whole page, it requires Optical Character Recognition (OCR) processing before conversion.
Isolate the Issue by Testing Another PDF File
Determine if the conversion problem is caused by the specific PDF file's encoding or if it is a systemic converter issue.
Garbled text frequently occurs when the source PDF contains embedded custom fonts or non-standard encoding that the conversion tool cannot interpret. By testing a standard text file, you can identify the root cause.
Launch the PDF to Excel conversion tool or website you normally use.
Select a different, simple text-based PDF file (such as a standard invoice or text document without complex fonts) and upload it.
Click the convert button and download the resulting Excel spreadsheet.
Open the new Excel file. If the text is readable, the original PDF has unsupported fonts or encoding issues that need to be addressed.
Use OCR for Scanned or Image-Based PDFs
If your PDF contains images of text, standard conversion will produce garbled output and requires an OCR tool.
Convert PDF to Excel Accurately with WPS Office
WPS Office includes a built-in, powerful PDF to Excel converter equipped with advanced OCR technology to ensure your data is extracted accurately without formatting loss or garbled text.
- 1. Open WPS Office: Launch WPS Office on your computer and navigate to the 'PDF' tab on the home screen.
- 2. Select PDF to Excel: Click on 'PDF to Excel' in the toolbar and select the problematic PDF file from your local storage.
- 3. Enable OCR (If necessary): If your document is scanned, ensure the OCR option is checked and select the correct document language.
- 4. Convert and Edit: Click the 'Convert' button. The clean, readable Excel file will automatically open in WPS Spreadsheet for immediate editing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my PDF text look like strange symbols when converted to Excel?
This typically happens when the original PDF uses custom, embedded, or subset fonts that the converter cannot recognize, or if the document relies on non-standard text encoding. The converter attempts to guess the characters, resulting in strange symbols.
Can I fix the garbled text directly in the converted Excel file?
No, once the text is garbled during the conversion process, it cannot be automatically decoded or reversed within Excel. You must address the font or encoding issue in the source PDF and reconvert the file.
How do I know if my PDF needs OCR before converting to Excel?
Try selecting the text in a standard PDF reader. If you can only select the entire page as a single image rather than highlighting individual words or lines, the PDF is a scanned image and requires Optical Character Recognition (OCR) before it can be converted.
Does flattening a PDF help with conversion issues?
Yes. If a PDF contains complex layers, forms, or unsupported fonts, using the 'Print to PDF' function flattens the document into a simpler structure, which often resolves encoding issues during the Excel conversion.
