How to Put a PDF Into Google Docs

To put a PDF into Google Docs, upload it to Google Drive, right-click the file, and select Open with > Google Docs. Drive reads the text in the PDF and opens it as an editable document. If you want the PDF inside a document you already have, Google Docs has no Insert PDF command, so you add it as a link, as a picture of a page, or as converted text.

This guide covers Google Docs and Google Drive in a web browser on a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook. The steps follow Google’s current help pages and are linked where they apply. Google says the PDF conversion has to be done at drive.google.com on a computer, so the phone apps are covered separately near the end.

Which Method Fits Your PDF

“Putting a PDF into Google Docs” can mean three different things. Pick the row that matches what you want the reader to see.

What you want	Method	What you get
Edit the words in the PDF	Open with > Google Docs	A new, editable Google Doc; layout may change
Point readers to the whole PDF	Link or file chip	A clickable link that opens the PDF in Drive
Show a page exactly as it looks	Insert a picture of the page	An image in the document; the text is not editable
Reuse part of the PDF text	Convert, then copy and paste	Editable text inside your existing document

What You Need First

• A Google Account and a computer with a web browser.
• The PDF saved on your computer or already in Google Drive.
• For conversion, a PDF of 2 MB or smaller. That is the size Google recommends for its text conversion.
• Edit access to the Google Doc you want to add the PDF to.

Convert a PDF to an Editable Google Doc

This is the shortest route when you need to change the wording of a PDF. It uses OCR (optical character recognition), which means Google reads the letters on each page and turns them into text you can type over. Google documents the steps on its Convert PDF and photo files to text help page.

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com and sign in.
2. At the top left, click New > File upload. A file window opens.
3. Choose the PDF and confirm. You can also drag the PDF from your computer into an open Drive folder. Wait for the upload to finish.
4. Right-click the PDF in Drive. A menu opens.
5. Click Open with > Google Docs.

A Google Doc opens in a new tab with the text from the PDF. It is a document you can edit, share, and comment on like any other Google Doc. For more detail on the upload step, including the Drive for desktop folder, see how to upload a PDF to Google Drive. Google lists the upload options on its Upload files and folders page.

Prepare the PDF for a cleaner result

Google gives several tips for getting better text out of a PDF or photo. Check these before you upload, because fixing the source file is easier than repairing the converted document.

• File size: 2 MB or smaller.
• Resolution: text should be at least 10 pixels high.
• Orientation: pages must be right-side up. Rotate a sideways scan before you upload it.
• Fonts: common fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman convert best.
• Image quality: for scans, use sharp pages with even lighting and clear contrast.
• Language: Drive detects the language of the document on its own.

The same steps work for photo files (.jpeg, .png, and .gif), so a clear photo of a printed page can be converted the same way.

What carries over and what does not

Google warns that the format might not transfer. Expect to do some cleanup on anything more complex than plain paragraphs.

• Likely kept: bold, italics, font size, font type, and line breaks.
• Not likely to be detected: lists, tables, columns, footnotes, and endnotes.

If the result has odd fonts or spacing, you can clear formatting in Google Docs and restyle the text. Our longer guide on how to convert a PDF to a Google Doc goes deeper into conversion and cleanup.

Add a PDF to an Existing Document as a Link

Use a link when readers should open the full PDF, with its original layout, from inside your document. Our guide to adding, editing, and removing hyperlinks in Google Docs covers the link box in more detail. The PDF has to be stored in Google Drive first.

Before you share: a link does not give anyone access to the PDF. People who can open your document may still be blocked from the PDF unless you share that file too. Setting a file to Anyone with the link means anyone who has the link can open it, so do not use that setting for private or sensitive PDFs. Share those with specific people instead.

1. In Google Drive, right-click the PDF and click Share.
2. Add the people who need the file, or under General access click the Down arrow and choose who can open it. Pick the Viewer role if readers only need to read the PDF.
3. Click Copy link, then Done.
4. Open your document in Google Docs and click where the link should go, or highlight the words you want to turn into a link.
5. Click Insert > Link, or press Ctrl + K (Command + K on a Mac).
6. Paste the link in the link box, enter the text to display if you did not highlight any, and click Apply.

The text becomes a link that opens the PDF. The sharing options are explained on Google’s Share files from Google Drive page, and the link steps are on its Work with links and bookmarks page.

Use a file chip instead

A smart chip is a small clickable label in a document that shows details about a person, file, date, or place when you hover over it. To add one for a file, type @ anywhere in the document, start typing the file name, and select the file from the list. You can also find chips under Insert > Smart chips.

Google’s smart chips help page describes file chips for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files and does not mention PDFs by name. If your PDF does not show up in the @ list, use the regular link steps above. They work for any file in Drive.

Insert a PDF Page as a Picture

Use a picture when one page, chart, or form needs to appear in the document exactly as it looks in the PDF. The trade-off is that the page becomes an image, so nobody can edit or search its text.

1. Open the PDF on your computer and show the page you want at a readable size.
2. Take a screenshot of that page with the screenshot tool on your computer and save it as an image file. Repeat for each page you need.
3. Open your document in Google Docs and click where the picture should go.
4. Click Insert > Image > Upload from computer.
5. Choose the screenshot and click Open. The picture appears at the cursor.
6. Click the picture to see the layout options below it: In line, Wrap text, Break text, Behind text, and In front of text. Drag a corner handle to resize it.

Google notes that these layout options are not available in documents that use the pageless format. Switch the document to pages format if you need them. The full list of image sources is on Google’s Insert or delete images and videos page. This method suits one or two pages. For a long PDF, a link is tidier.

Paste PDF Text Into an Existing Document

If you only need a few paragraphs from the PDF inside a document you are already writing, combine the first method with copy and paste.

1. Convert the PDF with Open with > Google Docs as shown above.
2. In the new document, select the text you need and press Ctrl + C (Command + C on a Mac).
3. Switch to your existing document, click where the text should go, and press Ctrl + V (Command + V).
4. Read the pasted text against the PDF and fix any lists, tables, or footnotes that did not convert.

On a Phone or Tablet

The Android and iPhone versions of Google’s conversion page say the same thing: to convert PDF and photo files to text, go to drive.google.com on your computer. Plan to do the conversion on a computer, then open the finished Google Doc in the Docs app on your phone.

The link and picture methods are less limited. You can upload a PDF with the Google Drive app, and Google’s link and image help pages both have Android and iPhone & iPad tabs with app steps. Menu names in the apps differ from the browser version, so follow those tabs if you are working on a phone.

Check That It Worked and Undo It

• Converted document: open it and compare the first and last pages with the PDF to confirm nothing was cut off. The converted file is a new Google Doc, so removing it does not touch the PDF. To get rid of it, right-click it in Drive and move it to the trash. Check that the PDF is still in its folder before you delete anything else.
• Link: click it and confirm the PDF opens. Ask one reader to try it too, since it may open for you but not for them. To take the link out, click it and choose Remove. To point it somewhere else, click it and choose Change.
• Picture: zoom in to confirm the text is readable. To remove it, click the picture and press Delete or Backspace.
• Any change in the document: press Ctrl + Z (Command + Z on a Mac) right away to undo it.

Troubleshooting

There is no Google Docs option under Open with

Make sure you are at drive.google.com in a computer browser, not in the mobile app, and that you right-clicked a single PDF or photo file rather than a folder or several files. On a work or school account, an administrator may control which apps are available, so ask your admin if the option is still missing.

The converted document is blank or full of errors

This usually points to a scanned PDF that is hard to read. Go back through Google’s tips: text at least 10 pixels high, pages right-side up, sharp scans with clear contrast, and common fonts. Rescan at a higher quality if you can, then convert again.

The PDF is larger than 2 MB

Google says the file should be 2 MB or smaller for conversion. Split a long PDF into smaller files and convert each part, or convert only the pages you need. If you have the original Word file the PDF was made from, converting the Word document to a Google Doc avoids the PDF step and keeps more of the layout.

Readers see a request for access when they click the link

The PDF is not shared with them. Open the PDF in Drive, click Share, and add those people or change General access. Sharing the Google Doc alone does not share the files it links to.

The upload will not finish

Uploaded files count toward your Google storage, so a full account can stop an upload. Check your connection and your available storage, then try again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you insert a PDF directly into a Google Doc?

Not as a page-by-page embedded file. The Insert menu in Google Docs has no PDF option. You can link to the PDF, insert pictures of its pages, or convert it to text and paste that in.

Why is the converted text messy?

Google’s conversion keeps basic formatting such as bold, italics, and font size, but it is not likely to detect lists, tables, columns, footnotes, or endnotes. Scanned pages add recognition mistakes on top of that. Proofread the new document against the PDF.

Is there a size limit?

For conversion, Google says the file should be 2 MB or smaller. That figure applies to converting a PDF to text. Linking to a PDF stored in Drive does not involve conversion, so the same recommendation does not apply.

Does converting a PDF cost anything?

No extra tool is needed. Open with > Google Docs is part of Google Drive, so it works with a regular Google Account.

Can I turn the Google Doc back into a PDF?

Yes. Use File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf) in Google Docs. See how to save a Google Docs file as a PDF. Spreadsheets work the same way, as shown in how to convert a Google Sheets file to PDF.

Can I convert only one page of a PDF?

Drive converts the whole file you select. To work with a single page, either convert the PDF and copy the part you need, or insert a picture of that page.

Next Steps

Once the PDF content is in your document, give the file a clear name with our guide on how to rename a file in the Google Docs iPhone app, which also covers renaming on a computer. If you need to pull pictures back out of a document, see how to save an image from Google Docs. Working in Microsoft Word instead? Here is how to embed a PDF in Word.