Convert an Arabic PDF to editable Word, without broken text

Why Arabic breaks in a converted PDF

A PDF stores text the way it is drawn on the page, not the way it is read. Many PDFs keep Arabic as separate letter shapes in visual order, from left to right, with the joining forms already chosen. Word needs the opposite: the letters in reading order, from right to left, so that it can join and shape them itself. When a converter copies the drawn order straight into Word, you get reversed words, letters that no longer join and numbers on the wrong side.

What you can try for free first

1. Ask for the original. If the PDF was made from Word, the .docx file is always the best result.
2. Copy a short text. Select the text in the PDF and paste it into a plain-text editor. If the words come out in the right order, you can paste them into Word. If they come out reversed, the PDF stores visual order and copying will not help.
3. Open it in Word for Windows. Word can open a PDF (File > Open) and convert it. It works well for simple documents; check every Arabic line afterwards.
4. Use Google Docs for a scan. For a scanned page, opening the PDF with Google Docs runs text recognition. Expect to fix spacing and line breaks by hand.

Convert it with PDF to Office Basic (free)

PDF to Office rebuilds each paragraph in reading order and marks it right to left, so Word shapes the Arabic itself. The text stays real and editable.

1. Download PDF to Office Basic for Mac or Windows (beta) from its page and open it.
2. Drop your PDF on the window. Choose the pages you need, or keep them all.
3. Keep Word (.docx) and press Convert. The result opens next to your PDF, or in a folder you pick.
4. Open the Word file: every paragraph is an editable text box with the original font, size, colour and position, and mixed Arabic and English lines keep their own direction.

It runs on your computer. Nothing is uploaded and you do not need an account.

What the free edition does not do

BASIC converts PDFs that contain real text into Word. Scanned PDFs need text recognition (OCR), which is part of PDF to Office ADVANCED, together with PowerPoint, Excel and InDesign output, real tables and editable shapes.