Do you need to save your Word document as a PDF? Whether you’re creating a resume, a report, or a presentation, saving your document as a PDF comes with a ton of advantages. For example, saving in PDF can help you ensure that your document looks the same on any device. They are also superior to DOCX files in terms of print quality.
And the good news is that it’s just as easy to save a Word document as a PDF as it is to save it as a DOCX file.
So, in this article, we’ll show you how to save a Word document as a PDF in a few easy steps. We’ll also cover a couple of other vital information you’d need when it comes to saving your documents as PDFs.
How to Save Word Document as PDF
One of the most prevalent types of files stored as a PDF (Portable Document Format) is Microsoft Word documents. PDF files contain text and occasionally images that were created with Microsoft Word.
By following the procedures below, you can save a Word document directly to a PDF file type in most versions of Microsoft Word.
- Open an existing Word document or start a new one.
- At the top-left of the Word program window, click the File tab or menu option.
- In the menu, select the Save As option.
- Click the Browse button or option on the Save As window to select a location on your computer to save the file.
- Select PDF (*.pdf) from the Save as type drop-down list.
- To save the Word document as a PDF, click the Save option.
How to Save Word Document as PDF by Exporting
A new feature in Microsoft Word 2016 offers the option to export a Word document to PDF format, resulting in the creation of a PDF file. To export your Word 2016 document to PDF, follow the steps below.
- Open an existing Word document or start a new one.
- At the top-left of the Word program window, click the File tab or menu option.
- In the menu, select the Export option.
- Choose Create PDF/XPS Document, then press the Create PDF/XPS button.
- Choose where you wish to save the file in the Publish as PDF or XPS window.
- Select PDF (*.pdf) from the Save as type drop-down list, then click the Publish button.
- The published PDF file will be opened in your preferred PDF viewer.
How to Save Word to PDF Online Using a Third-Party App
You can also convert your Word document to PDF online on a third-party app like freepdfconvert.com. You will need to complete the following.
- Step 1: Open your preferred browser and navigate to freepdfconvert.com.
- Step 2: When the site loads, you should see a file selection choice. Click it to select and upload the Word document to be converted.
- Step 3: Under “Convert to,” ensure that the format selected is PDF, and then click Convert to begin the conversion process.
Can’t Save a Word Document as a PDF? Solved!
When attempting to save a Word document as a PDF, you may encounter the following issues.
#1. When your Word document is saved as a PDF, the comments disappear
To fix this problem, go to File, Send, and then select “Email as PDF attachment options” in Microsoft Word. In the resultant PDF, you should be able to remark on balloons. Change the tracking settings to “Final Showing Markup.”
#2. When a Word document is saved to PDF, the borders become corrupted or disappear.
If you encounter this issue while attempting to save Word to PDF, you must perform the following:
- Select the entire shaded row, then go to “Table,” then “Table Properties,” then “Borders and Shading,” and finally, the Borders tab.
- After that, select the contour for the border setting and then the same color that you used for the shading.
- Apply this setting to the cell and then repeat for all rows, or use a macro to automate this process.
#3. When a Word document is saved as a PDF, it is split into many files.
If you do not want to receive this error, change the printing options to US Letter rather than A3 or A4. You will receive a single PDF file, regardless of the number of sections or page breaks.
#4. “Export failed due to an unexpected error.”
If you see this error when attempting to save a Word document as a PDF, you must first select Save As from the drop-down menu before clicking Save. Make sure that the PDF option is selected in the “Save As” window.
Print the Word document to a PDF
A PDF file can be created by electronically printing a Word document into PDF format. Printing to PDF necessitates the installation of a PDF production tool on your computer so that Word can print to that PDF converter. We propose one of the two free PDF converter apps listed below.
- CutePDF
- PrimoPDF
Download and install one of the two PDF conversion programs, then proceed with the procedures below to convert your Word document to a PDF file.
- Open an existing Word document or start a new one.
- At the top-left of the Word program window, click the File tab or menu option.
- In the menu, select the Print option.
- Change the selected printer on the Print page or window to the CutePDF Writer or PrimoPDF printer choice, depending on which you installed.
- Select the Print button.
- When you use CutePDF, a Save As window appears. Choose the location where you want to save the PDF file, give it a name, and then click the Save button.
- A PrimoPDF window appears if you are using it. When creating a PDF, the Save As option is set to Ask by default. You can keep this as the default, or you can change it to a specific folder, which will prompt you to choose where to save the PDF file on your computer. Click the Create PDF button and then follow the on-screen instructions to create and save the PDF file to your computer.
If You Do Not Have Microsoft Word
If you don’t have Word and need to convert a PDF document that someone sent you, you have a few options:
- Google Drive: Uploading a Word document to Google Drive, saving it as a Google Document, and then converting it to PDF is possible. This works well enough if you have a simple, largely text Word document with little formatting (and a Google account).
- A Conversion Website: There are numerous websites that offer free conversion of Word documents to PDF. We suggest freepdfconvert.com. It’s a secure site that works quickly and does a decent job on Word documents with even minor formatting. And it’s completely free if you only need to convert a single Word document to PDF. A paid subscription unlocks extra capabilities such as unlimited conversions (the ability to convert several documents at once) and the ability to convert more file types.
- LibreOffice is a free, open-source office application that has many of the same capabilities as Microsoft Office. You can even open and convert Microsoft Word documents to PDF.
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