Your whole team works in Google Sheets, but the report came as a PDF. You don't want a download-then-upload-then-import dance. You want the table in your sheet.
Three clicks, give or take.
Sheets doesn't read PDFs directly
Google Sheets imports xlsx, xls, ods, csv, tsv and txt — but not PDF. You need to convert first. The two practical paths: PDF to xlsx (preserves more formatting) or PDF to CSV (cleaner for scripts and importers).
The xlsx route
Run the PDF through Flint's PDF to Excel. Download the xlsx. In Google Sheets, File > Import > Upload, pick the xlsx, choose Replace spreadsheet or Insert new sheet(s) depending on where you want it.
Sheets converts xlsx to its native format on the fly. Tables come across with structure intact — numbers stay numeric, dates stay dates.
The CSV route
If you want the cleanest possible data with no formatting baggage, convert to CSV instead. File > Import > Upload in Sheets, pick CSV, and Sheets imports the raw data. Lighter, faster, no formatting noise.
Use CSV when you'll be building charts and pivots in Sheets from scratch, xlsx when the converted layout already looks how you want it.
From there into the rest of your stack
Once in Sheets, you can pull data into other tools easily — IMPORTRANGE from another Sheet, connect to Looker Studio, pipe via Apps Script. Doing the original PDF parse outside Sheets means Sheets sees clean data, which Apps Script handles much better than messy direct imports.
FAQ
Can Google Drive open PDFs as Sheets directly?
Drive can OCR a PDF into a Doc, but not into a Sheet. The detour via xlsx or CSV is the cleanest path.
Will formulas survive?
PDFs don't contain formulas, only rendered values. You'll get the numbers, not the calculations. Re-add formulas in Sheets if you want them live.
Can I link the Sheet back to the original PDF?
Not natively — but you can store the PDF in Drive and paste the link in a cell for reference.
What about Sheets' file size limits?
Sheets allows up to 10 million cells. Large bank statements or financial extracts comfortably fit.
Convert, import, done. Convert your PDF to Excel for upload into Sheets.