Word to PDF
Choose a Word document (.docx). Your browser draws it and saves it as a PDF whose text stays text, with its headers, footers and page numbers. The file is not uploaded anywhere.
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How to convert Word to PDF
- Choose the .docx file.
- Check the preview.
- Press "Save as PDF" and, in the print window, choose "Save as PDF" as the destination.
Why it goes through the print window
The document is drawn by your browser, and the browser's print engine is the only part of it that writes a PDF with real text: selectable, searchable, with working links. Sites that convert Word to PDF without it either upload the file to a server or turn every page into a picture. Here nothing leaves your computer, and the text stays text.
Headers, footers and page numbers
The header is repeated at the top of every page and the footer at the bottom, as in Word. A "Page 3 of 8" in the footer is a field that Word works out as it prints: a file only carries the number it had when saved, the same on every page. Those lines are rebuilt so the browser numbers each page itself.
What can come out differently
The layout is recalculated here, so the lines break where your browser breaks them. With the fonts the document uses installed (Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman on almost any computer), it looks the same; without them, another font is used and a page may end a few lines earlier or later. Text boxes, shapes floating over the text and very elaborate layouts are the parts most likely to move.
Is it private?
Yes. Everything runs inside your web browser, using your own device. Nothing is uploaded to any server, so your documents stay completely private. On top of that, the tool runs in a private frame, served from a separate address (app.robinpdf.com) and kept apart from the ads: your browser does not let the page around it see the file you open there. How does this work without uploading?
Frequently asked questions
Is my document uploaded?
No. It is read and drawn in your browser, and the PDF is written by your browser's print window. You can disconnect from the internet after this page loads and it still works.
Why does a print window open instead of a download?
Because the print engine is the only part of a browser that writes a PDF with real text, and a web page cannot use it without that window. In Chrome and Edge choose "Save as PDF"; in Firefox, "Save to PDF"; on a Mac, the PDF button at the bottom of the dialog.
The date and an address appear at the top and bottom.
That is the "Headers and footers" option of the print window: untick it under "More settings". The document's own header and footer are not affected.
Does it work with .doc files?
Not with the old .doc format (Word 97–2003), which is a different kind of file. Open it in Word or LibreOffice, save it as .docx and convert that.
The page numbers are missing.
They are written in the page margin, which Chrome and Edge print; Firefox does not print that part of the page yet. The rest of the document is the same in any browser.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes: on Android and iPhone the document opens in a tab of its own and the phone's print screen appears; choose "Save as PDF" there. A phone lacks many of the fonts a Word document uses, so lines may break differently.