In this post, we’ll show you how to convert a PDF to Excel for free using Copilot AI.
Microsoft Copilot is a powerful AI assistant that helps streamline your day-to-day tasks. From summarizing sales trends to rewriting paragraphs and drafting email replies, Copilot can do it all using simple, natural-language prompts.
And the best part? You can use Copilot to extract data directly from PDFs and turn it into usable content in your Excel spreadsheets. No complex tools or coding is required.
Let’s walk you through how to do it.
How to convert PDF to Excel free using Copilot AI?
You can convert a PDF to Excel for free using Copilot in Microsoft Edge. Copilot can read and work with the file or content currently open in your browser tab and answer questions or provide summaries based on that.
To use it to convert a PDF to Excel, open your PDF in Microsoft Edge, then click the Copilot icon on top. Ask it to extract or summarize the data. You can then copy the result into Excel to work with the data.
Let us see this in detail.
Open File Explorer and locate your PDF file. Right-click the PDF and choose Open with > Microsoft Edge. The PDF will open in a new browser tab using Edge’s built-in PDF reader.
Click the Copilot icon in the top-right corner or click the Ask Copilot button on the toolbar.
Copilot will launch in the right-hand panel. You can also use the hotkey “Ctrl + Shift + .” to open and close the Copilot panel in Edge. If you see a prompt, click Continue.
Next, type a prompt that instructs Copilot to extract the required data from the PDF and convert it into tabular format.
For example, suppose we have a PDF that contains a feature comparison chart of different editions of the Windows 11 operating system, as shown in the below image:
To convert this data to an Excel table, we can use the following Copilot prompt:
“Convert the PDF file into a structured Excel table. Ensure each feature is listed in a separate row, with columns for each edition and corresponding values (like ✓, ✗, or feature descriptions). Maintain the same layout and readability as in the original PDF.”
Copilot will analyze the visible content and give you a structured table. In the below image, you can see the results Copilot has generated for me:
This is exactly what I wanted it to do. The catch is crafting a clear, specific prompt that tells Copilot what you’re looking for, especially since PDFs can vary a lot in layout. If Copilot misses some data, scroll to that part in the PDF and ask again. Combine multiple outputs if needed.
Once Copilot shows you the extracted table or data, manually highlight the text using your mouse, right-click, and select Copy (or press Ctrl + C).
Then go to the Excel file, click on the first cell where you want the data to appear, and paste the copied content (Ctrl + V or right-click > Paste). Excel will automatically arrange it into rows and columns, especially if the text is tabular.
After this, you can adjust column widths, add headers or borders, or apply filters or formatting as required.
Note:
- You may also click the Copy icon below the Copilot response to quickly copy the output. However, if the response contains a complex table, the formatting may not be correct in Excel. In such cases, manually selecting and copying the table content often gives better results.
- If you see the Upload option in the Copilot sidebar, you can upload a PDF directly for Copilot to analyze. Click the plus icon, then click the paperclip icon. Choose the PDF file to upload. Once uploaded, enter the prompt. Copilot will read the uploaded file and generate a response based on it.
I hope you find this useful.
Read: Afirstsoft PDF AI, an all-in-one AI-powered PDF Solution for Windows users.
Is there a free AI tool to convert PDF to Excel?
You may use Microsoft Copilot in the Edge browser to convert a PDF to Excel for free. Open the PDF in Edge, launch Copilot from the sidebar, and ask it to extract the table or data. Then, copy the result and paste it into Excel. This method is completely free. Other AI tools may offer similar features but often come with limitations or paywalls.
Can AI extract data from PDF to Excel?
Yes, AI can extract data from PDF to Excel using both free and paid tools. Free options like Microsoft Copilot in Edge and ChatGPT with file upload allow you to manually extract and copy table data. Paid tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot and platforms like Docparser offer more advanced and automated extraction with formatting.
Read Next: How to extract Tables from PDF documents.
