To extract a table from a PDF, you can use Lido's PDF Table Extractor. Upload the PDF, drag a selection box over the table, and Lido pulls it into a spreadsheet with every row and column intact, ready to export to Excel.
In this tutorial, we will walk you through how to extract a table from a PDF using Lido. Simply follow the steps below.
Lido's PDF Table Extractor is the best way to extract tables from PDFs because it keeps the table structure intact, even in scanned PDFs, borderless tables, and tables that span multiple pages.
Before you start, make sure you have your PDF saved on your computer.
If you don't have a Lido account yet, you can create one for free here.
Once you're logged in, create a New File.
Click on Tools in the top menu and select the PDF Table Extractor. This tool is designed to find tables in your PDF and keep their rows and columns in place. Tables need more care than pulling running text from a PDF, where row and column order does not matter.
Drag and drop your file into Lido, or click to upload. Digital PDFs, scanned PDFs, and photos of paper documents all work.
For the purpose of this tutorial, we are using a sample bank statement. Drag the selection box over the table you want to extract. If your PDF has more than one table, you can select just the ones you need.
If the same table continues across several pages, check Apply selection to all pages. Once you have your selection, click Extract Data.
Review the extracted table to make sure it includes everything you need. You can go back to adjust your selection. When you're satisfied, click Insert at Active Cell to add the table to your spreadsheet.
You can edit and format the cells however you need. Adjust column widths, format numbers and dates, or reorganize the data to suit your workflow.
Click Export to Excel at the top to download your table as a spreadsheet file. From there, you can open it in Excel or import it into Google Sheets.
These methods can work for simple tables, but each one falls short on harder PDFs:
Copy and paste: Select the table, copy it, and paste it into a spreadsheet. Columns often merge into one cell, and multi-line text splits across rows.
PDF to Excel converters: Tools like Smallpdf and iLovePDF convert a whole page to a spreadsheet. They handle simple, single-page tables with clear borders but struggle with borderless and multi-page tables.
Python libraries: Tabula-py and Camelot extract tables from digital PDFs with code. They're free for developers, but they can't read scanned PDFs and often need tuning for unusual layouts.
Adobe Acrobat Pro: Export PDF converts files to Excel and includes OCR. It handles basic tables, but it requires a paid subscription and complex layouts still need manual cleanup.
Online table extraction tools: Browser tools like Tabula's web version work for one-off, non-sensitive files. Most have file size limits and can't read scanned PDFs.
Lido works in every scenario: scanned PDFs, multi-page tables, tables without borders, merged cells, inconsistent column widths, and nested headers. It's also SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliant, so sensitive documents stay secure. For a full comparison, see our guide to the best table extraction software.
Now that you know how to extract a table from a PDF, you can get clean, structured data in seconds instead of fixing broken spreadsheets.
The best way is to use Lido's PDF Table Extractor. Select the table in your PDF, and Lido extracts it with the rows and columns intact, even from scanned PDFs and complex layouts.
Open Lido's PDF Table Extractor, upload your PDF, and drag the selection box over the table. Click Extract Data, insert the table into your sheet, and click Export to Excel.
Yes, but only with a tool that includes OCR. Lido reads scanned PDFs automatically, while free converters and Python libraries like Tabula and Camelot can't process scanned documents without a separate OCR step.
Lido runs in your browser, so you can extract tables without installing anything. Upload the PDF to the PDF Table Extractor, select the table, and export it. Free browser tools like Tabula's web version also work for simple, non-sensitive files.
Yes. Copy and paste, free online converters, and Python libraries cost nothing, but they work best on simple digital PDFs. Lido offers 50 free pages so you can test it on scanned or complex tables.
In Lido's PDF Table Extractor, select the table on one page and check Apply selection to all pages. Lido extracts the same table area from every page, including tables that continue across page breaks.
A table of contents is different from a data table. Most PDF readers show the built-in table of contents in a sidebar, where you can copy it as text. Developers can also read it from the PDF's bookmarks with a library like PyPDF2.
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