Get a table from a PDF into Google Sheets, with the numbers intact

Convert the PDF first

Settings that matter for Sheets:

• Format: keep “Excel (.xlsx)”. The tool notes it “also opens in Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice”.
• Sheets: “One per page” gives 1 tab per page in Sheets; “All on one” gives 1 tab with the pages one after the other, separated by an empty row. For 1 long table, pick “All on one”.
• Pages: if the table is on pages 12 to 14 of a 40-page report, type 12-14. Only those pages are converted, and the 37 pages of prose around them stay out of your sheet.

Import it into Google Sheets

These steps follow Google’s own help page “Import data sets in Google Sheets” (checked on 11 October 2026):

1. Open a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, or create a blank one.
2. Click File, then Import.
3. Choose the .xlsx you just downloaded.
4. Pick an import option. “Create new spreadsheet” makes a new file; “Insert new sheets” adds the table as new tabs to the open spreadsheet; “Replace current sheet” overwrites the tab you are on; “Append rows to current sheet” adds the rows under the last filled row, which suits a monthly list.
5. Click Import.

A worked example: a 4-page price list

We converted an invented 4-page price list: 100 articles with 6-digit article numbers (000001 to 000100), a description, a unit and a price, the column headings repeated at the top of every page, and “Page 1 of 4” at the bottom. With “All on one”, the result card said “Put 112 rows into a spreadsheet, with 100 numbers as numbers you can add up”. The 100 numbers are the 100 prices; the article numbers stayed text, so 000001 keeps its zeros.

After the import, 3 checks take a minute:

1. Sum a number column. In an empty cell, type =SUM(D:D) for the price column. In our converted file the 100 prices added up to 2065, the same as the prices in the PDF. A sum that works proves the prices are numbers, not text that looks like numbers.
2. Look at 1 code. An article number should read 000001, not 1. If it lost its zeros, see the FAQ below and the leading zeros guide.
3. Look at the seams. Where a page ended you find the footer row, an empty row and the repeated heading row. Filter them out before sorting; Multi-page table to Excel shows the 3 moves.

Why not CSV, and why not paste?

CSV works, and Sheets’ import dialog lets you pick the separator (“Detect automatically”, “Tab”, “Comma” or “Custom”, per Google’s help). But a CSV is plain text: the article number 000001 is just 6 characters, and whatever opens the file decides whether that is a number. We opened the converter’s CSV of a customer list in Excel to see what happens: 004711 became 4711, and a 16-digit card number became 4.11E+15. The .xlsx opened with every code intact. If you need CSV anyway, keep the default separator “Comma, 1190.50”, which the tool marks as the one “for Excel in English, Google Sheets and most software”.

Paste is the fallback for a few rows. Copied text from a PDF usually arrives as 1 line per row with single spaces, so it lands in 1 column. Sheets can split it (Data, Split text to columns), but split on spaces, “Business cards, 500 pieces” ends up in 4 cells. Fine for a table of single words and numbers, painful for descriptions. Copy a table from a PDF covers when paste is the faster route.

Dates in Sheets

The converter keeps dates as text, exactly as printed, so 03.04.2026 is never turned into 4 March by a US-style setting. To get real dates, add a column with =DATE(RIGHT(A2,4),MID(A2,4,2),LEFT(A2,2)) for a day.month.year date. How Sheets shows dates, currency and numbers by default depends on the spreadsheet’s locale: File, Settings, then Locale under General (Google’s help, checked on 11 October 2026). PDF to Excel number formats goes through ambiguous dates like 03/04.

The honest part

The PDF stays on your device; the imported table does not. Once you click Import, the data is stored in your Google account, under Google’s terms. For a bank statement or a payroll list, consider keeping it in a local spreadsheet instead.

Columns are worked out from where the text sits. A table drawn with lines between its columns converts best; a table with a block of other text right above it, or 2 tables side by side, can put text in the wrong column (the fixes). A scanned PDF has no text to convert at all: run OCR PDF first. And if the table’s source offers a spreadsheet download, that file beats any conversion.