What should I do if the text is unclear, garbled, or the number of words has changed after converting PDF to Word?

Key points of this article

First check whether the text can be selected in the original PDF: if it is not selected, it is probably a scanned copy, which should be OCR recognized first and then converted.
Most of the garbled characters come from missing fonts or special characters. You should first fill in the fonts and then check them section by section. Do not retransmit the entire text.
Changes in word count are often caused by line breaks, word breaks, headers, footers, and footnotes. Both sides must be counted using the same caliber.
For small typos, you can modify the paragraph text directly in the PDF editor. After modification, use the comparison function to confirm the scope of the change.

If you have just converted a PDF to Word and after opening it, you find that the text is blurred, individual words turn into squares or question marks, or the number of words does not match the original text, this article is for you. Many people subconsciously try to use another conversion tool, but often end up using the wrong method. Most of these problems can be troubleshooted separately by cause, without having to start from the beginning every time.

After reading this article, you can determine whether the problem lies in the original file, the font, or Word itself; check the word count in the same way; and directly correct the text of the converted document instead of redoing the entire document. The following will give the conclusion first, and then the judgment table and troubleshooting steps.

What should I do if the PDF to Word conversion is not clear? One sentence conclusion

First drag and select a section of text in the original PDF. If it can be selected and the correct text can be copied, the problem usually lies in the font or layout; if it cannot be selected and looks like a picture, it must be recognized first and then converted.

your situation	Recommended practices	reason
The original PDF is a scanned copy, and the text cannot be selected.	Do OCR recognition first, then export to Word	Scanned documents are essentially pictures, and direct conversion will only result in blurry pictures or messed up text.
Text can be selected, but individual words become squares or question marks.	Check whether the font is missing, replace the font and check it paragraph by paragraph.	The original text used special fonts or uncommon characters, and the corresponding fonts could not be found during conversion.
After conversion, the number of words obviously becomes more or less.	Unify the statistical caliber, and then check the headers, footers, footnotes and tables	Line breaks, word breaks, and additional content can change statistical results
The document only has a few typos	Modify paragraph text directly in the PDF editor or correct it in Word	Partial problems don’t need to be retransmitted in their entirety, and corrections are faster and more controllable.
Documents must be formally submitted or cited	Compare the original text paragraph by paragraph, focusing on numbers and proper nouns	Errors may occur in both recognition and conversion, and key content requires manual confirmation.

First determine what kind of problem it is

The form below can help you quickly find your seat. In most cases, you can guess the cause just by looking at the symptoms, and then use the method on the right to confirm.

symptoms	Common causes	How to confirm
The text is blurry and the edges are rough, like pictures	The original document is a scan and the page itself is an image	Drag and select text. If the text cannot be selected or the entire block becomes a frame after selection, it can basically be determined to be a scanned document.
Some words become squares, question marks or typos	Fonts are not embedded, or contain special symbols or uncommon characters	Copy a section of text from the original PDF to a plain text editor and see if the copied characters are normal.
The order of paragraphs is reversed, or header content is included	Double column layout or floating text box is broken	Check the order of paragraphs against the original text and check whether there is a separate text box on the page
The number of words becomes more or less	Hyphens, headers and footers, footnotes, and table of contents are included or missed.	Count the original text and converted text separately in the same way
Formulas or symbols become garbled characters or become pictures	The formula itself is a picture, or the symbol font is missing	Click on the location to determine whether it is text or an image

Check and repair item by item

It is recommended to do it in the following order, first eliminate simple causes, and then deal with complex situations.

Open the original PDF, drag and select several paragraphs of text and copy them to a plain text editor. If the correct text can be copied, it means that the text layer is normal; if it cannot be copied or garbled characters appear, the problem lies in the original file.
If it is a scanned document, perform OCR recognition first. OmniDoc's desktop client PDF editor comes with an OCR function that can recognize text in images and then export them to Word. The identification results still need to be checked section by section.
After conversion, export the Word document to PDF and use OmniDoc's comparison function to compare it with the original PDF. Changes and differences will be displayed in the comparison, making it easy to locate problems.
Unify the word count statistics. Chinese characters and English words are calculated in different ways. It is recommended to count them separately instead of directly comparing a number. Word count that comes with Word, or copying the text to a plain text editor for statistics, can be used as a reference.
Check the header, footer, footnotes and table of contents. These contents may be repeated on each page in the PDF and may be included or missed after conversion. After comparing items one by one, determine whether they affect the statistical results.
Clean up line breaks and hyphens. Hyphens that break lines at the end of PDFs are carried into Word, causing the same word to be split into two paragraphs. You can use Word's Find and Replace feature to remove extraneous hyphens and hard line breaks.

The scanned document is blurry: identify first, then convert

Blurry in scans is usually not a problem with Word, but rather a lack of sharpness in the original image, or the lack of a text layer at all. Direct conversion will only result in images or misplaced text. The correct approach is to do OCR first to turn the text into editable content, and then export it to Word. If there are still a lot of typos after recognition, you can go back to the original scan and check whether it is a problem with the shooting angle, resolution or contrast.

How to adjust the characters if they are messed up: first fill in the font, and then check it paragraph by paragraph

Most of the garbled characters come from fonts. Note down the font name used in the original text, and replace it in Word with a similar font that is installed on your machine; if there are still missing characters, you can use a font that can display the character. When there are not many rare words and special symbols, it is more reliable to correct them one by one directly in Word. For small typos, you can modify the paragraph text in OmniDoc's PDF editor, export it again after modification, and use the comparison function to confirm that the changes only occur at the target location.

How to avoid it happening again next time

Determine the file type before conversion: PDFs that can select text can be converted directly, and scanned documents are recognized first.
If you can get the original Word, LaTeX or Markdown source file, give priority to using the source file. Its text restoration is usually more reliable than reverse reasoning from PDF.
After conversion, keep a copy of the original PDF as a reference. Do not just save the conversion result. This will have a basis when problems arise.
When there is a word count requirement, use the same calculation method before submission. Do not use the number of PDF pages to estimate the word count.
When making PDFs yourself, try to use common fonts and embed fonts to reduce the problem of missing characters on the recipient's computer.
Create a checklist for important documents and check the number of pages, figures, proper nouns and tables one by one before delivering them.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Will the word count change after converting PDF to Word?

Will change. Line breaks, word breaks, headers, footers, and footnotes may be processed differently during conversion, and inconsistent statistical calibers may also cause differences. First count the number of words on both sides in the same way, and then see what content is extra or missing.

2. The characters are messed up after converting PDF to Word. Can you just change the garbled characters?

able. First find out where the garbled characters appear, and correct or replace a small amount of them directly in Word. Large areas of garbled characters are mostly caused by font problems. You should correct the fonts first and then check the content.

3. Will the scanned PDF to Word be blurry?

Not necessarily, but the results of a direct conversion are usually less than ideal. Perform OCR recognition first and then export to Word, so that the text can be restored more easily. The recognition results may still be wrong and need to be checked section by section.

4. What should you pay attention to when choosing a free conversion tool?

Focus on file size limits, whether to add watermarks, privacy policy, and whether layout and tables can be retained. Use a sample with a small number of pages to test and check whether the text, tables and formulas are complete before deciding whether to use it in a formal document.

📝 Summary

If a text problem occurs after converting PDF to Word, first identify whether it is caused by the scanned document, fonts or statistical caliber, and then deal with it in a targeted manner, which will save more time than re-converting the entire document. Pay attention to three points when checking: whether the original text can be selected, where the garbled characters appear, and whether the number of words on both sides is of the same caliber.

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