This obscure Microsoft Excel tool imports PDF data without mangling it | usagoldmines.com

I don’t use Microsoft Excel all that often, so it remains a bit of a mystery to me. I can enter text and create graphs and that’s basically it. That’s why I’ve set myself a goal to learn one new Excel trick every week.

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

It turns out that I tried to do what most people do — that is, I tried to copy and paste directly from the PDF itself. But that just results in the text being copied over with formatting all askew. No, a better way to do it is to use Excel’s built-in data copying feature. Not only is it simple and easy to do, but the data will be copied over with perfect formatting as well.

What to do:

• Open the PDF document and make a note of where the table with the data is located and the number designation for the table. For this exercise, I’m using a PDF of a review guide for a laptop I reviewed.
• Now open Microsoft Excel. Also open a new Excel document by selecting File > New > Blank Workbook.
• In the top menu of Excel select Data > Get Data > From File > From PDF.
• Browse your files and select the PDF with the table in it. Now select Import.
• Choose the table from the list that appears and click Load. The table you want will now load into the Excel document with perfect formatting.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

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