PDF Data into Excel – how can I use the ‘Get Data’ feature in my spreadsheets? Watch the video to learn more
This week’s hint and tip is about getting PDF data into Excel using the ‘Get Data’ feature. This option isn’t on any of our courses so we decided to do a hint and tip on it. We are going to go through it now below.
What it is and where to find it
The ‘Get Data’ feature in Excel is a very powerful tool that you can use to easily move data in and out of Excel. There are lots of different options that you can use but we are looking specifically at getting data from a PDF file. To find this option you need to go to the Data Tab in Excel.
How to get data from a PDF document
Firstly to use this option, go to the Data Tab and click on the ‘Get Data’ option. From here go to the ‘From File’ option and click on the ‘From PDF’ option. This will allow you to navigate through your filing system to where the PDF file is stored. Once you have it, select it and click on Import. Next a window will appear where you can click on the name for the table on the left and see a preview of the table. There might be more than one option if there are multiple tables so just click through until the preview is of the correct one. Finally click on ‘Load’ and it will load the data into the Excel spreadsheet for you.
Refreshing the link if the table is updated
If you make any changes to the original Word document that the PDF was created from, you can refresh the table in Excel to update to match it. Make the change to the Word document and save it. Next save the Word document as a pdf replacing the existing one. After you have done this, go back into Excel and on the Table Design Tab that appears when you are in the table, click on the Refresh button. This will then update your table.
The video below shows you where to find the PDF data into Excel option and how to use it yourself. This feature in Excel is very useful as it can help save you lots of time.
Take a look below at the video to find out more and then try it out on your own computer!
We hope you have enjoyed this hint and tip on getting PDF data into Excel. Why not take a look at our previous one on useful features in Publisher?