Are you looking for an easy way to convert a scanned PDF to an editable Excel file? Documents are often scanned for easy storage, but this makes them impossible to edit. However, by converting a scanned PDF to Excel, you can regain editing capabilities. To convert a scanned PDF to Excel, a OCR feature is also needed. Here are 3 PDF to Excel converters with OCR support
- Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement: A complete PDF editor & converter with OCR support. Open the scanned PDF in the program, run OCR, and choose To Excel to save the PDF in Excel.
- PDF Converter Pro: A PDF converter with OCR support. You can enable OCR while converting PDF to Excel.
- PDFelement Online: Convert PDF to editable Excel online.
Part 1. Convert Scanned PDF to Excel
Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement is the best PDF converter for converting scanned PDF files to Excel. Its amazing conversion feature lets you easily convert your PDF in minutes using an intuitive interface. With excellent OCR technology, it can handle multiple files in different languages. You can even do batch conversions and work with large files.
Quick list: How to convert a scanned PDF into Excel
In detail: Convert PDF into Excel with a PDF Converter
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Step 1. Open a Scanned PDF
Launch PDFelement and click on the "Open PDF" button to import your scanned PDF. You can also directly drag and drop a scanned PDF file into the program from your local folder.

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Step 2. Convert Scanned PDF to Excel
When you open the scanned PDF file, it will remind you to perform OCR. Click the "Perform OCR" button, and make sure the OCR feature is activated.

Then, in the "Convert" tab, click on the option "To Excel". A dialog box for Excel conversion will open. Adjust settings as required for your Excel sheet. Now click on the button "Save" and PDFelement will provide you with a high-quality Excel file from your scanned document.

After conversion, you will get an editable Excel document. Open it in Excel to edit.

Note: Learn more about How to OCR PDF to Excel
Tip: Convert Scanned PDF to Excel in Batches
PDFelement enables you to convert multiple scanned PDFs to Excel in a batch, which can help you save time and effort a lot.
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Step 1. After opening a file with PDFelement, click the "Tools" > "Batch PDFs" button to get access.

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Step 2. Click the "Convert" tab; you can add multiple scanned PDF files to it. And choose Excel in the "Output Format" option. Click the "Settings" button to select the settings you need. After setting up, click the "START" button to start the process immediately.

Video on Convert Scanned PDF to Excel
Part 2. Scanned PDF to Excel Converter with OCR
Wondershare PDF Converter Pro is a professional converter, specializing in converting PDF to/from a customized Excel spreadsheet while keeping the original PDF formatting and layout. With its advanced OCR technology, you can turn scanned PDFs into editable Excel files easily. Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to convert a scanned PDF to editable Excel.
Quick list: How to convert a scanned PDF to Excel using OCR
- Import the scanned PDF file into PDFelement.
- Use OCR to convert the scanned PDF into an editable format and then export it to Excel.
In detail: Scan PDF to Excel with PDF Converter
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Step 1. Use OCR to Convert
Launch the program, click "Click Here" to add your scanned PDF file, then select "Excel" format under the type list. When you click the "Convert" button, it will remind you that this is an OCR file, and you need to perform OCR.
Note: If you want to convert a scanned PDF to Excel with OCR directly, please go to the "OCR" option.

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Step 2. Convert scanned PDF to Excel
Before converting scanned PDF to Excel, click the "OCR Setting", then you can choose the language you need to recognize and click "SUBMIT". Then click the "Convert" button to begin the scanned PDF to Excel conversion. Within minutes, the process to convert scanned PDF to Excel spreadsheet will end, and you will get the converted editable Excel file.

Part 3. Convert Scanned PDF to Excel Online
Scan a PDF into Excel with PDFelement Online
PDFelement Online is an excellent online converter program that also supports the conversion of scanned PDF to Excel. The conversion process is seamless and guarantees a high level of privacy and security. Besides scanned PDFs, you can convert images, faxes, eBooks, and screenshots to editable formats like Word, Excel, and PPT.
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Step 1. To upload the scanned PDF file, click the "Select a file" option. Select the target scanned PDF file and click "Open" to upload it to the program's interface. On the other hand, drag and drop the PDF onto the online PDF to Excel converter.
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Step 2. When the file is successfully uploaded, select "OCR" and choose the document language by checking the respective box. After selecting the language, click Convert to save the output file in the "xlsx" format.

Scan a PDF into Excel using OCRonline
You can also use an online free scanned PDF to Excel converter - OCRonline to convert scanned PDF to excel files for free. The online converter can convert scanned PDF to Excel, Word, images and more than 40 languages are supported. You can use this free scanned PDF to excel converter without email. However, it can't convert scanned PDF files that are larger than 15MB.

Tips for Converting Scanned PDF to Excel Online
Everyone would like to enjoy an incredible online conversion of scanned PDF to Excel. However, this is not possible without taking heed of some useful tips for converting scanned PDF to Excel online, as explained below.
- Use the right tool- Nothing beats using the right tool to convert scanned PDF to Excel online. It ensures seamless conversion and quality output.
- Look for a good internet connection- Online conversion requires an internet connection. A steady internet connection ensures faster and higher-quality conversions.
- Do not overspend- Do not pay a lot of money for tools that aren't satisfactory. There are several effective and affordable tools.
- Think about file security and privacy- file security and privacy are important aspects. Make sure the platform you are using has high-level encryption technology. Make sure you also install an antivirus on your device to avoid downloading malicious programs.
Part 4. FAQs about Converting Scanned PDF to Excel
1. How do I copy text from a scanned PDF to Excel?
To copy text from a scanned PDF to Excel, you need to use an OCR tool to convert the scanned PDF to editable text, then you can copy the text to Excel. PDFelement can help you to do that. Learn more about How to Copy PDF to Excel without formatting loss.
2. How do I insert a scanned PDF into Excel?
In the Excel spreadsheet, click Insert > Object and select the scanned PDF file you want to insert. The PDF file will be inserted as an object.
3. Can I use AI to convert a scanned PDF to Excel?
Yes, you can use AI to convert a scanned PDF into an editable file, including Excel.
AI tools such as ChatGPT, Adobe Acrobat AI, and other OCR-powered document converters can help extract text and tables from scanned PDFs. In most cases, these tools use OCR (optical character recognition) to read the text in the scan and table recognition to preserve rows, columns, and structure when exporting the content into an editable format like Excel.
This is especially useful for invoices, receipts, reports, and other structured documents, where manual data entry would otherwise take a lot of time. Some AI tools can also help clean up the extracted content, reformat tables, or organize the data after the initial conversion.
However, it is important to note that tools like ChatGPT alone do not directly convert scanned PDFs to Excel files in the same way as dedicated OCR software. ChatGPT can help interpret, organize, or reformat extracted text, but for the actual conversion, you usually need a tool with built-in OCR and file export features.
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Elise Williams
chief Editor