# PDF to Word on a mobile phone
Canonical HTML: [https://pdfpix.com/guides/pdf-to-word-on-a-phone/](https://pdfpix.com/guides/pdf-to-word-on-a-phone/)
On a phone there are two routes to a real Word document. PDF to Word converts in the phone's browser tab and the file stays there. The Word app opens a PDF and offers to convert it, but the conversion runs on Microsoft's online service and the file leaves the phone. This guide covers both, what each one sends, and where the .docx lands on iPhone and Android.
## Steps
1. **Open the tool in the phone browser.** In Safari on an iPhone or Chrome on Android, open PDF to Word. Tap the file button and choose the PDF from the Files app, Downloads or the Android file picker.
2. **Let it convert in the tab.** The tool reads the text layer, rebuilds paragraphs and writes a .docx on the phone. It then reads the .docx back and counts the text before it offers the download.
3. **Read the count.** The count compares the .docx text with the PDF text. Zero text means the PDF is a scan and needs an OCR step first.
4. **Download and open.** Tap Download. On an iPhone the .docx lands in Files under Downloads; on Android in the Downloads folder. Open it in Word, Pages or Google Docs.
## What the phone can and cannot do
A phone has no Word converter of its own. iOS can show a PDF, share it and print it; Android can do the same. Neither turns a PDF into a .docx without an app or a browser tool. The Word app fills the gap by sending the PDF to Microsoft, and nearly every PDF to Word converter in mobile app stores does the same thing with its own server, usually without a notice.
That makes the question for a phone less about how and more about what leaves the device. A recipe or a flyer can go anywhere. A contract, a pay slip or a medical letter should stay on the phone, which narrows the routes to the browser tab.
## PDF to Word in the phone browser
[PDF to Word](https://pdfpix.com/pdf-to-word/) runs in the phone's browser tab the same way it runs on a desktop. It reads the text layer of a native-text PDF, rebuilds paragraphs, writes a .docx, then reads the .docx back and counts its text against the PDF before offering the download. The PDF stays in the tab and no account is needed. A phone browser has the memory for an ordinary document; a very long report with hundreds of pages is where the tool may stop and say so rather than produce a partial file.
A scanned PDF reports zero text on a phone as it does anywhere else. The tools on this site all run on a phone in the same way, including [Compress a PDF on your phone](https://pdfpix.com/guides/compress-a-pdf-on-your-phone/).
## The Word app route in detail
The Word app on iPhone and Android opens a PDF in a viewer and shows a bar offering to convert it to an editable Word document. The notice says the conversion uses Microsoft's online service. On tapping Convert the PDF is uploaded, converted with the same PDF Reflow engine as desktop Word, and the .docx comes back into the app. Text, lists, simple tables and pictures arrive; complex layouts become text boxes, and a scan arrives as pictures.
A Microsoft account signed in is required. On a phone-sized screen editing does not need a subscription. The desktop behaviour, which converts on the machine instead, is in [Convert PDF to Word](https://pdfpix.com/guides/convert-pdf-to-word/).
## How to convert PDF to Word on iPhone and keep the file
Word on iPhone saves to OneDrive by default. To keep the .docx on the phone, tap the three dots, Save a copy, then On My iPhone and a folder. The file then appears in the Files app under On My iPhone, and from there it can be shared by AirDrop, Mail or Messages. To keep the original PDF as well, save the copy under a new name; Word proposes the PDF's name with a new extension.
A PDF received in Mail can be opened straight into Word with a long press, Share, Word. The same sheet reaches Safari, so the browser route starts from Mail too: save the PDF to Files first, then choose it in the tool.
## Android
Word on Android opens a PDF from a file manager, Gmail or Drive with Open with, then Word. The conversion bar and the online service notice are the same as on iPhone. Save a copy offers This device, which lands the .docx in the Documents folder, or OneDrive. A phone with Google Drive can also send the PDF to Drive and open it in Google Docs from a desktop browser later, which is the OCR route for a scan and is described in [Convert a PDF to Google Docs](https://pdfpix.com/guides/convert-a-pdf-to-google-docs/).
Android's built-in PDF viewer selects and copies text. For a paragraph or an address that is quicker than any conversion: select, copy, paste into a new Word document.
## PDF to Word converter in mobile app stores
Search either store for a converter and the results are apps that send the PDF to a server, convert it there and return a .docx, funded by a subscription or by adverts. Some state the transfer in their privacy policy and some do not. Few convert on the phone. For a document with a name on it, the Word app's notice is at least explicit about what happens, and the browser tab is the route where nothing happens to the file at all.
On a Mac the picture is wider, because Word for Mac and Automator both convert locally as well; [PDF to Word on a Mac](https://pdfpix.com/guides/pdf-to-word-on-a-mac/) has those routes. The rest of the Word guides are under [PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint help](https://pdfpix.com/guides/office/).
## Questions and answers
### Does the Word app convert a PDF on the phone itself?
No. The app sends the PDF to Microsoft's online service, converts it there and returns the .docx. The notice on screen says so before you tap Convert.
### Can I convert a PDF to Word on an iPhone for nothing?
Yes, two ways. PDF to Word converts in Safari with the file staying on the phone. The Word app converts with a Microsoft account signed in and sends the file to Microsoft.
### Where does Word on my phone save the converted document?
OneDrive by default. Save a copy offers On My iPhone or This device on Android, which puts the .docx in Files or the Documents folder.
### Can the Files app convert a PDF to Word?
No. Files shows, shares and prints a PDF. Conversion needs the browser tool or the Word app.
### Is there a way to convert on a phone without the file leaving it?
Yes. PDF to Word runs in the phone's browser tab, reads the .docx back and counts the text before the download. The PDF stays in the tab.
### Where does the browser download land on my phone?
On an iPhone, in the Files app under Downloads. On Android, in the Downloads folder. Word, Pages and Google Docs open a .docx from either.
## Related pages
- [PDF to Word](https://pdfpix.com/pdf-to-word/): Turn a native-text PDF into an editable Word document. The file stays in your browser. No upload, no account needed.
- [Convert PDF to Word](https://pdfpix.com/guides/convert-pdf-to-word/): Turn a PDF back into an editable Word document, and know what the conversion cannot recover. Free, in your browser, with PDF to Word.
- [PDF to Word on a Mac](https://pdfpix.com/guides/pdf-to-word-on-a-mac/): Turn a PDF into a Word document on a Mac without Adobe Acrobat. Free, in your browser, with PDF to Word.
- [Compress a PDF on mobile](https://pdfpix.com/guides/compress-a-pdf-on-your-phone/): Shrink a PDF on a phone without installing anything. Free, in your browser, with Compress PDF.
- [PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint help](https://pdfpix.com/guides/office/): Find the right guide for PDFs inside Excel, Word and other software. Every guide on the job, sorted by the problem you have.