Turn a .docx into a PDF when you do not have Word

getPDF cannot convert a .docx yet. What it does is the part after: when the PDF is too big for the portal or has to be joined with other files, that happens here, on your device.

Which route should you pick?

Route	Account	Works offline	Layout	Where the file goes
Word for the web	Free Microsoft account	No	Word’s own engine: the closest to the original	Your OneDrive
Google Docs	Google account	No	Converted to Docs first; complex layouts shift	Your Google Drive
LibreOffice	None	Yes	Its own engine; good on ordinary documents, check complex ones	Stays on your computer
Pages (Mac, iPhone, iPad)	None	Yes	Converted to Pages first; complex layouts shift	Stays on your device

The fidelity column is the honest pattern rather than a test score: Word for the web runs Microsoft’s layout code, and the other 3 read the .docx into their own format and lay it out again with their own fonts. A letter or a CV comes through any of them. Text boxes, columns, tables wider than the page and fonts you do not have are where the page breaks move. Whichever route you take, put the PDF and the original side by side before you send it.

Route 1: Word for the web, the closest to real Word

Microsoft’s support article “Export Word document as PDF” (checked on 11 October 2026) gives these steps:

1. Sign in at office.com or onedrive.com with a free Microsoft account.
2. Upload the .docx to OneDrive and open it. It opens in Word for the web.
3. Choose File, Export.
4. Pick Download as PDF, or Download as PDF with comments if the reviewers’ notes should be in it.
5. Confirm with Download. The PDF lands in your browser’s download folder.

This is the route to take when the layout must match what the sender saw. The price is that the file sits in your OneDrive; delete it there afterwards if it should not stay.

Route 2: Google Docs, if you already use Gmail

1. Upload the .docx to Google Drive and open it. Docs can edit it as a Word file, or you choose File, Save as Google Docs first.
2. Check the layout before anything else: page count, tables, headers. If something moved, fix it here.
3. Choose File, Download, PDF Document (.pdf).

Links stay clickable and the text stays selectable. The Google Docs to PDF guide covers the settings that change the result (page setup, pageless mode, suggestions).

Route 3: LibreOffice, free and fully offline

LibreOffice is a free office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux. Install it once and it converts without a connection, which makes it the route for a confidential contract or a laptop on a train.

1. Open the .docx in LibreOffice Writer (double-click, or File, Open).
2. Choose File, Export As, Export as PDF. The PDF Options dialog opens. Export Directly as PDF skips the dialog and reuses your last settings.
3. On the General tab, leave the image settings as they are for a document you print; pick a lower JPEG quality only if the file must be small.
4. Press Export, choose a folder and save.

The LibreOffice Getting Started Guide (chapter on exporting, checked on 11 October 2026) lists the other tabs: Initial View, User Interface, Links, Security and Digital Signatures. Links come through as links.

Route 4: Pages on a Mac, iPhone or iPad

Pages is Apple’s free word processor. It opens .docx files directly.

1. Open the .docx in Pages. It may list fonts it substituted; read that list.
2. Choose File, Export To, PDF, then Save.

On an iPhone or iPad, Pages has the same export. Without Pages: open the .docx in Files, then share it to Print and save the preview as a PDF, as the save a PDF on iPhone guide shows.

Why not a “docx to PDF” converter site?

Because the conversion happens on their server, so your document goes there first. Most sites promise to delete files after a few hours, and many keep that promise; you just cannot check. In July 2024, Cybernews researchers found that 2 converter sites, PDF Pro and Help PDF, had left 89,062 uploaded files open in an Amazon S3 storage bucket, passports, driving licences and contracts among them (“Online PDF maker leaks user-uploaded documents”, 11 July 2024). The guide to uploading PDFs to online converters has the full story and what to look for.

Word for the web and Google Docs are uploads too, to accounts you control with providers you already trust with your mail. LibreOffice and Pages are not uploads at all.

After the PDF exists

Everything from here runs in your browser on your device, and nothing is uploaded. Use a tool once, turn Wi-Fi off, and it still works.

• Too big for the portal or the mail? The compressor above takes a size target and keeps the best picture quality that fits. A text-only document rarely needs it: our 500-page text file is 117 KB.
• Several documents, 1 file? Merge PDF joins them in the order you set with Up and Down, and adds a bookmark per file with that file’s own bookmarks under it.
• Needs a password? Protect PDF encrypts it with AES-256.

What this does not solve

getPDF cannot convert a .docx yet. A Word to PDF tool is planned; until it is live, these 4 routes are the honest answer, and Word for the web is the one to use when the layout has to be exact. The 3 converters that are not Word lay the document out again, so check every page of a complex one. And if what you actually have is Word itself, the Word to PDF guide shows the Options that matter.