How to Insert a PDF Into a Word Document

To insert a PDF into Word, open your document and go to Insert > Object > Create from File, browse to the PDF, and click OK. Word places the PDF's first page as an embedded object you can double-click to open. To show every page, insert each page as an image instead, or convert the PDF to editable text first.

Key takeaways

• The fastest method is Insert > Object > Create from File, which embeds the PDF as a clickable object inside your Word file.
• That method only displays the first page as a preview, which surprises most people the first time they try it.
• To show all pages inline, convert each PDF page to an image and insert the images in order.
• If you need the PDF's text to flow and be editable, convert the PDF to a Word document first rather than embedding it.
• "Link to file" keeps your Word file small but breaks if the PDF is moved, renamed, or emailed without it.
• Embedded PDFs can look soft on screen but usually print at full quality.

The three ways to add a PDF to Word

There isn't a single "right" way to do this, and that's the part most tutorials skip. The best method depends entirely on what you want the reader to see and do. Here are the three real options:

1. Embed it as an object — a small icon or first-page preview lives inside the Word file. Readers double-click to open the full PDF.
2. Insert it as images — every page becomes a picture pasted into the document, visible inline as the reader scrolls.
3. Convert it to editable text — the PDF's words and layout become native Word content you can change.

Pick based on one question: do you want people to read the PDF inside the document, or just open it from there? If they only need to open it, embedding as an object is quickest. If they need to see the content without clicking, you'll want images or converted text. The steps for each are below.

Method 1: Insert a PDF as an object (the standard way)

This is what most people mean by "embed a PDF in a Word document." It tucks the whole PDF file inside your Word document so it travels with it — share the .docx and the PDF goes along for the ride.

1. Open your Word document and click where you want the PDF to appear.
2. Go to the Insert tab on the ribbon.
3. In the Text group on the right side of the ribbon, click Object. On some versions it's a small icon next to a dropdown arrow — click the icon itself, not the arrow.
4. In the dialog that opens, choose the Create from File tab.
5. Click Browse, find your PDF, and select it.
6. Decide on two checkboxes before you confirm:
   • Link to file — leave it unchecked to embed the PDF inside the document. Check it only if you want Word to point to the PDF's location on disk instead (more on that below).
   • Display as icon — check this if you want a small PDF icon rather than a page preview. Handy when the preview would clutter your layout.
7. Click OK.

Word inserts the first page of the PDF as a preview image, or an icon if you chose that. You can drag the corner handles to resize it and wrap text around it like any other object. Double-clicking it opens the full PDF in your computer's default PDF viewer.

One thing to know: the embedded object opens in a separate viewer, not inside Word. So readers see your document, then jump out to read the PDF. If you'd rather keep them in the flow of the page, that's a sign you want Method 2 or 3.

The catch nobody warns you about

Here's the realistic failure mode: this method shows only the first page. If your PDF is ten pages long, your readers see page one as a thumbnail and have to double-click to view the rest. People constantly insert a multi-page PDF, see a single page, and assume Word "lost" the others. It didn't — the full file is embedded; Word simply previews the first page.

There's a related surprise on the print side. Because only page one shows on the document, only page one prints when you print the Word file. The other pages exist inside the embedded object, but they won't appear on paper. If your goal is for every page to be visible and printable, this method is the wrong tool. Use Method 2 instead.

Method 2: Insert a PDF as images so every page shows

When you want the PDF visible inline — no double-clicking, every page on display — turn each page into a picture and insert those.

1. Convert each PDF page into an image file (PNG or JPG). You can do this with our online PDF editor or any PDF-to-image tool.
2. In Word, click where you want the first page to go.
3. Go to Insert > Pictures > This Device.
4. Select the page images and insert them.
5. Repeat or multi-select so the pages land in order.

Now every page is visible inline and prints cleanly. The trade-off is that the text becomes a flat image — nobody can copy, search, or edit the words on it. For a contract excerpt, a signed form, or a certificate you want shown in full, that's usually exactly what you want.

A few tips that make the difference between crisp and fuzzy:

• Export at high resolution. Aim for at least 150 DPI for on-screen reading, and 300 DPI if the document will be printed. A 72 DPI export looks fine on a thumbnail and falls apart when someone zooms in.
• Insert at full size, then scale down. Drop the image in at its native size and let Word shrink it to fit the page. Inserting a small image and stretching it up is the single most common cause of blurry PDF pages in Word.
• Use PNG for text-heavy pages. JPG compression can smear sharp text edges. PNG keeps lines and letters crisp, at the cost of a slightly larger file.

If you only need one specific page — a signature page or a single form — convert just that page and insert it on its own. There's no need to drag the whole document along.

Method 3: Convert the PDF to editable Word text

Sometimes you don't want a PDF inside Word at all. You want the PDF's content to become Word content you can edit, reformat, and merge with the rest of your document.

In that case, don't embed anything. Convert the PDF into an editable Word document, then copy the parts you need into your file. Modern versions of Word can open many PDFs directly: choose File > Open, pick the PDF, and Word rebuilds it as an editable document. Word will warn you that it's converting the file and that the result may look different — that's normal. The layout won't be perfect, since tables and columns often shift and complex designs can scramble, but the text becomes fully editable.

This works best on PDFs that were created from text in the first place. Scanned documents — essentially photos of pages — convert poorly, because Word has to guess at the characters. For those, a dedicated conversion tool with text recognition gives a far cleaner result, and you can then bring the recovered text across.

We walk through the whole flow, including how to re-save without breaking your formatting, in our guide on how to edit a PDF in Microsoft Word.

Embed vs. link: which to choose

The Link to file checkbox quietly changes how your document behaves long after you click OK. Here's the honest comparison.

	Embed (default)	Link to file
PDF lives inside the Word file	Yes	No — Word points to it
Word file size	Larger	Stays small
Works if you email the doc alone	Yes	No — link breaks
Updates when the PDF changes	No	Yes
Breaks if PDF is moved or renamed	No	Yes

When to embed: you're sharing the Word file with others, or you need it to be self-contained. Embedding is the safe default for almost everyone, because the document keeps working no matter where it ends up.

When to link: the PDF updates regularly and you want Word to always reflect the latest version, and the file will stay in a fixed, shared location everyone can reach — a network drive or shared folder, not your own desktop. Linking is genuinely useful for a price list or policy document that changes often. But if there's any chance the PDF gets moved, or you email just the .docx, the link breaks and readers see an empty box where the PDF should be.

On a Mac

The steps are nearly identical in Word for Mac. Use Insert > Object, then choose From File and pick your PDF. The same first-page-only behavior applies, so if you need all pages visible, fall back to the image method above.

Mac's built-in Preview app makes exporting PDF pages to images straightforward: open the PDF in Preview, then use File > Export to save a page as PNG or JPG, repeating per page. That pairs neatly with Method 2 and saves you hunting for a separate tool.

Doing this for other Office apps

Inserting a PDF works much the same across Microsoft Office, with small differences worth knowing. The object-embedding approach carries over to spreadsheets and slide decks, but how the preview behaves and how you size it differs from app to app. In Excel, for example, the embedded object floats over the cells rather than sitting in one, so positioning takes a little more care.

If you're working beyond Word, see our guides on how to insert a PDF into Excel and how to insert a PDF into PowerPoint or Google Slides for the app-specific quirks.

FAQ

How do I put a PDF inside a Word doc?

Open your Word document, go to Insert > Object > Create from File, click Browse, select your PDF, and click OK. Leave "Link to file" unchecked so the PDF is embedded inside the document. Word shows the first page as a preview, and readers double-click it to open the full file.

Why does Word only show the first page of my PDF?

Because the object-embed method is designed to display a single-page preview, not render the whole PDF. The complete file is still embedded — double-click the preview to open every page. If you need all pages visible inline (and printable), convert the PDF to images and insert each page as a picture instead.

Will an inserted PDF look blurry?

It can look soft on screen, especially at high zoom, but embedded objects and full-resolution page images usually print at their original quality. If a page looks fuzzy, you probably inserted a low-resolution image or stretched a small one. Re-export the page at 150–300 DPI and insert it at full size, letting Word scale it down rather than up.

Can I edit the PDF's text after inserting it?

Not with the object or image methods — both keep the PDF as a fixed snapshot. To make the content editable, convert the PDF to a Word document instead of embedding it, using File > Open on the PDF or a dedicated conversion tool. Then the text flows and edits like any normal Word content.

How do I add just one page of a PDF to Word?

Convert that single page to an image (PNG or JPG) and insert it with Insert > Pictures. This shows exactly the page you want, full size, without dragging the rest of the document along. It's the cleanest way to drop one specific page — a signature page or a single form — into your file.

Does inserting a PDF increase the Word file size?

Yes, if you embed it. The entire PDF gets stored inside the .docx, so a large or image-heavy PDF makes a noticeably bigger Word file. Choosing "Link to file" keeps the Word file small by pointing to the PDF's location instead, but the link breaks if the PDF is moved, renamed, or emailed without it.