SnipSheetHow to get a table from a PDF or image into Google Sheets
Google Sheets has no "import from PDF" option, and pasting from a PDF usually puts everything in one column. Here is a quick way to get a clean table into Sheets.
Use SnipSheet: select the table in the PDF or image, click Copy to Google Sheets, and paste with Ctrl+V in the new sheet. Numbers and dates arrive as real values.
The Google Drive trick (and its limits)
You can open a PDF with Google Docs from Google Drive (right-click > Open with > Google Docs). Docs turns the PDF into text, which you can copy into Sheets. For tables this usually breaks the columns, and it gets worse with scans and multi-page tables.
With SnipSheet
- Open the PDF in SnipSheet (Open PDF or image), or click the SnipSheet icon on any page with a table.
- Drag a box around the table and click Extract table.
- Click Copy to Google Sheets. SnipSheet copies the table and opens a new Google Sheet.
- In the new sheet, click cell A1 and press Ctrl+V (⌘+V on Mac).
The table is copied in Google Sheets' own format, so numbers, percentages and dates paste as real values, not text. You can also download an Excel file and upload it to Google Drive.
Why the numbers matter
When numbers paste as text, SUM gives 0 and sorting goes wrong (10 comes before 9). SnipSheet recognises thousands separators, decimal commas, currency symbols and negative amounts in parentheses, so the values work in formulas right away.
Try SnipSheet free. 20 tables a month, no sign up. It comes with a sample table so you can see how it works in seconds.
Add to Chrome, it's freeQuestions
Can Google Sheets import a PDF?
No. Google Sheets can import CSV and Excel files, but not PDFs. You need to convert the PDF table first.
Why does SnipSheet open a new sheet instead of pasting for me?
Pasting for you would require access to your Google account. SnipSheet copies the table and lets you paste it, so it never needs access to your data in Google.