This obscure Microsoft Excel tool imports PDF data without mangling it

I don’t use Microsoft Excel very often, so it’s still a bit of a mystery to me. I can enter text and create graphics and that’s basically it. That’s why I made it my goal to learn a new Excel tip every week.

This week I learned how to successfully copy data from a PDF table to a spreadsheet. It seems easy and straightforward, but it is not. The few times I’ve attempted this in the past have been a disaster.

Turns out I tried to do what most people do: I tried to copy and paste directly from the PDF itself. But this simply results in the text being copied with crooked formatting. No, a better way to do this is to use Excel’s built-in copy data feature. Not only is it simple and easy to do, but the data will also be copied with perfect formatting.

What to do:

• Open the PDF document and note the location of the table containing the data as well as the numerical designation of the table. For this exercise, I’m using a PDF of a review guide for a laptop that I reviewed.
• Now open Microsoft Excel. Also open a new Excel document by selecting Deposit > New > Blank exercise book.
• From Excel’s top menu, select Data > Get data > From file > From PDF.
• Browse your files and select the PDF containing the table. Select now Import.
• Choose the table from the list that appears and click Load. The desired table will now be loaded into the Excel document with perfect formatting.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

I hope you enjoyed adding an extra string to your Excel bow. That’s all for this tip. If you want to receive more helpful tips like this in your inbox twice a week, be sure to sign up for our PCWorld Try This newsletter.