Scissor Office

Turn a PDF into an editable DOCX, on your device

Open a PDF in Documents and Scissor Office rebuilds its text into a document you can edit, then save as a Word DOCX or an OpenDocument ODT. The PDF is read inside your browser tab with PDF.js and is not uploaded.

Open a PDFHow it works

How to turn a PDF into a DOCX

  1. Open the app, press Open file and choose the PDF. You will see “Reading the PDF…” while it is rebuilt.
  2. Check the result and edit it like any document: fix a heading, join a paragraph, move a picture.
  3. Press Save. Scissor Office does not write PDF files in place, so it asks you to Save in another format: choose DOCX or ODT.
  4. Or use Save as…, pick DOCX in Format, and choose this device or your Google Drive under Where.

What comes across from a PDF

In the PDFIn the document
Text in paragraphsEditable paragraphs that flow from page to page
HeadingsHeadings, which also fill the outline
Bulleted and numbered listsLists
Bold and italicBold and italic
PicturesPictures on the page
Page sizes, also mixed sizes in one fileSections with the same page size and orientation
Exact positions of every lineNot copied: the text is rebuilt as a document, not a picture of the page
Scanned pages without a text layerNothing to edit: run text recognition first

A rebuilt document, not a copy of the page

A PDF stores where each letter sits on a page, not paragraphs. Scissor Office reads those positions and works out the paragraphs, headings and lists again, so you get text you can edit and reflow. That works best for PDFs made from a word processor.

Scans and photos of pages

A scanned PDF holds pictures of pages and no text. Scissor Office then says “This PDF has no text to edit (it may be a scan)”. Scissor PDF can run text recognition (OCR) on it first; open the result here afterwards.

Back to PDF

When you have edited the document, choose Export and then PDF. Your browser's print dialog opens: choose Save as PDF. The PDF is made on your device.

Limits to know

  • PDFs protected with a password cannot be opened yet.
  • Pages with complex layouts, such as forms, posters or several columns, can need some tidying after opening.

Want to see for yourself that nothing is uploaded? How it works shows how to check in your browser's Network tab.

Questions and answers

Does it keep the layout exactly?

No. It rebuilds the text and its structure: paragraphs, headings, lists, bold and italic, pictures and page sizes. The exact position of every line is not copied, so the document can be edited and reflowed.

What about a scanned PDF?

A scan has no text to rebuild. Run text recognition in Scissor PDF first, then open the result in Documents.

Is the PDF uploaded?

No. PDF.js reads it inside your browser tab, and the document engine rebuilds it there too.

Can I save the result to Google Drive?

Yes. Use Save as… or Save to Google Drive and it is saved as DOCX in your own Drive.

Can I make a PDF again after editing?

Yes. Export and then PDF opens your browser's print dialog, where you choose Save as PDF.

Can it open a PDF with a password?

Not yet. Remove the password in the program that made the PDF, then open it here.

Related guides

Open a PDF

Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Pages, Numbers and Keynote are trademarks of Apple Inc. LibreOffice is a trademark of The Document Foundation. Google Docs is a trademark of Google LLC. Scissor Office is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any of them. File formats are named only to say what Scissor Office can open and save.