Step 01 — Drop your file
The converter is the black rectangle on the home page. There are three ways to get a file into it:
- Drag and drop. Drag a file from Finder, Explorer, or a desktop folder directly onto the box. The border lights up when you're over it.
- Click to browse. Click anywhere in the box to open your system's file picker. You can multi-select with Shift or Cmd/Ctrl.
- Mobile. Tap the box to open the iOS or Android picker — pick from your photo library, files app, or any cloud drive that's installed (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive).
You can drop up to 5 files in one batch — each up to 20 MB, 100 MB per batch total. The accepted formats span documents (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, Markdown, TXT, HTML), images (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, HEIC, SVG), data files (CSV, JSON, XML, YAML), eBooks (EPUB, MOBI, AZW3), media (MP3, MP4, WAV), and archives (RAR, 7Z). Before converting, you can reorder or remove files in the selection list — the order matters for tools like Merge PDF.
Legacy Office files (.xls, .doc, .ppt) aren't accepted directly — re-save them as .xlsx/.docx/.pptx in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs, or LibreOffice first. The uploader tells you exactly this if you try one.
What if my file is bigger than 20 MB? For images, compress it first — most photos can drop below 20 MB without visible loss. For PDFs, try splitting it into smaller chunks in Preview or Adobe Reader. If neither works, write in and we'll see what we can do.
Step 02 — Pick a target format
Once a file is loaded, the Target format dropdown populates with valid choices for that file type. We only show conversions we actually support — you won't see "DOCX → JPG" because that's not a sensible operation.
A few rules of thumb:
- For finalizing a document (sending out, printing, signing): pick PDF.
- For editing a PDF in Word: pick DOCX. You get the extracted text, editable — complex layouts aren't reconstructed, so heavily designed PDFs need cleanup.
- For shrinking a photo: pick WebP or JPG.
- For an image that needs transparency: pick PNG or WebP — JPG flattens transparency to white.
- For pulling text out of a scan: pick OCR (Extract Text).
- For a website favicon: drop a PNG, JPG, or SVG and pick ICO — you get a multi-size favicon file.
- For moving data between tools: CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, and XLSX all interconvert — e.g. XLSX to JSON or JSON to CSV.
- For a PDF bank statement: pick one of the bank-statement targets (QuickBooks CSV, QBO/Web Connect, Xero, Wave, categorized CSV). These are Formatly's one paid tool — free row preview, then a one-time $15 unlock for the full import-ready file. See bank statement to CSV.
If you're not sure, the conversion matrix on the Formats page shows every supported pair. Or just try one — converting takes a few seconds and your file is auto-deleted in an hour.
Step 03 — Convert and download
Click Convert. A status row appears under the box for each file in the batch. Each row shows:
- The filename and conversion ("invoice.pdf → invoice.docx")
- A progress indicator while the worker is processing
- A green check + Download button when it's done, or a red error message if something failed
Click Download to save the converted file. When a batch of two or more files finishes, a Download all button also appears — it bundles every successful output into a single ZIP, so you don't have to click five links. The links stay valid for one hour — after that, both the source and the output are deleted from our servers.
Tips for better conversions
Quality in, quality out
Higher-resolution source files convert better. A 72 DPI scan won't magically become a 300 DPI scan after conversion. For best results, scan at 300 DPI or higher and use clear, well-lit captures.
Scanned PDFs need OCR
A scanned PDF is just an image inside a PDF wrapper. Converting it to DOCX gives you a "DOCX with a picture in it," which isn't editable text. Run OCR first to extract the text into a real text layer, then convert.
Embed your fonts
Standard fonts (Arial, Times, Helvetica, Calibri) carry through cleanly. Custom fonts may substitute. To preserve a custom font, embed it in the source DOCX or PDF before converting — most word processors have an "embed fonts" option in the export settings.
Use the right image format
PNG keeps transparency, JPG doesn't. WebP tends to be the smallest for photos and supports transparency too. For diagrams and screenshots, PNG or WebP. For photographs, JPG or WebP. See PNG vs JPG vs WebP for a deeper comparison.
Batch wisely
Five files at a time, processed in parallel. If one fails, the others keep going — there's no all-or-nothing batch — and the successes still bundle into the Download all ZIP. More batch tips.
Converting a bank statement
Bank-statement conversion works the same way — drop the PDF statement, pick a target like QuickBooks CSV, QBO / Web Connect, Xero CSV, Wave CSV, or Categorized CSV — with two differences:
- You get a free preview first. The result page shows the first extracted rows plus a balance-reconciliation check that flags rows that don't tie out. Scanned statements go through OCR automatically.
- The full file is a one-time $15 unlock. This is Formatly's one paid tool — no subscription, priced per statement. Everything else on the site stays free.
Start from the tool pages: bank statement to QuickBooks, to Xero, to Wave, or to plain CSV.
Converting from code — the API
Everything above also works over HTTP. The Convert API exposes the same engine as a keyed POST /api/v1/convert: upload a file and a target format, poll the status URL, download the result. Bearer-token auth, JSON responses, the same 20 MB limit and one-hour retention. Keys are issued on request — the API page has the full walkthrough with curl examples.
What happens to my files?
Uploads land in a signed, time-boxed Google Cloud Storage bucket. Conversion runs in an isolated worker process. After one hour, both the source file and the converted output are deleted automatically by a lifecycle rule — there's no manual step and no way for us to opt out. Full details on the security page.
Common pitfalls
- Password-protected PDFs can't be converted — the worker has no way to decrypt them. Remove the password first in Adobe Reader or Preview.
- Files over 20 MB are rejected at upload. Compress or split first.
- Browser extensions (privacy blockers, ad blockers) occasionally intercept the upload or download. Try a private window if something's misbehaving.
- Old download links (older than one hour) return 404 — re-upload to get a fresh link.