Unlike other PDF editors, Google Docs is completely free and doesn’t require you to download any software, not to mention it’s one of the most powerful document creation tools. If you are up for it, here’s how you can edit a PDF file in Google Docs.
Edit PDF files in Google Docs
For the demonstration, I will upload and edit the PDF file in the Google Docs interface. However, it’s not necessary to upload the file directly in Google Docs. You can also edit PDF files already stored in Google Drive, or upload them in Google Drive and then edit with Google Docs. Let’s see how to do it from the Google Docs interface:
Open up Google Docs home page.
Here click on the “Open file picker” button at the top right corner (one with the folder icon).
Now move to the “Upload” tab and click on “Select a file from your device” button to locate the PDF file in your PC and upload it.
The PDF file will upload and a preview of it will open up. Click on “Open with” menu at the top and select “Google Docs” from the menu.
The PDF file will open up in Google Docs editor and you can edit it as you please.
Once you have made the edits, click on the “File” menu and select “PDF Document” from the “Download as” option to convert the file again to PDF format.
Note: Just like other PDF editors, Google Docs will also not be able to perfectly copy the PDF file’s content. Any images and graphical material will not transfer over. Although all the text and text inside images will be copied.
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Editing PDF files with Google Docs isn’t too difficult. However, don’t get your hopes too high as Google Docs will only be able to handle simple PDF files with mostly text-based content. Although I must mention that Google Docs did a fine job of keeping the formatting even though my test document had graphical material. Let us know in the comments if you found Google Docs useful for editing PDF files.
