Converting PDF files into editable Word documents is a frequent requirement for developers, researchers, and technical writers. On Linux, this task can be accomplished entirely with free and open-source tools—either from the command line or through graphical interfaces.
Below are five proven tools, each suited to different PDF types and workflows.
🧰 LibreOffice #
LibreOffice is a full-featured open-source office suite with a powerful headless conversion engine, making it ideal for both desktop use and automation.
sudo apt-get install libreoffice
libreoffice --headless --convert-to docx filename.pdf
LibreOffice works best with digitally generated PDFs and preserves layout reasonably well. The --headless option enables conversion without launching the GUI, making it suitable for scripts and servers.
⚡ Pdf2doc #
Pdf2doc is a lightweight command-line utility focused specifically on converting PDFs to Word documents.
sudo apt-get install pdf2doc
pdf2doc filename.pdf
This tool is well suited for quick conversions when formatting requirements are modest and minimal dependencies are preferred.
🔍 GImageReader (OCR-Based) #
GImageReader is a graphical front-end for the Tesseract OCR engine, designed for scanned or image-based PDFs.
sudo apt-get install gimagereader
gimagereader filename.pdf
It supports multiple languages and allows manual control over recognition regions, making it ideal when dealing with scanned documents where text is not selectable.
🔧 Pandoc #
Pandoc is a universal document conversion tool capable of transforming PDFs into Word documents with structured output.
sudo apt-get install pandoc
pandoc -s -o output.docx input.pdf
Pandoc works best when PDFs contain well-structured text. The -s (standalone) option preserves document metadata and formatting where possible.
🔄 Unoconv #
Unoconv acts as a command-line wrapper around LibreOffice’s conversion engine and is commonly used in automated workflows.
sudo apt-get install unoconv
unoconv -f docx filename.pdf
Because it leverages LibreOffice internally, Unoconv offers broad format support and consistent results, making it a favorite for batch processing and CI pipelines.
🧠 Choosing the Right Tool #
| PDF Type | Recommended Tool |
|---|---|
| Text-based, layout-sensitive | LibreOffice / Unoconv |
| Quick CLI conversion | Pdf2doc |
| Scanned or image-only PDFs | GImageReader |
| Structured or technical documents | Pandoc |
📌 Key Takeaway #
Linux offers a mature ecosystem for PDF-to-Word conversion without relying on proprietary software. Whether you need OCR support, automation-friendly tools, or precise formatting control, these five utilities cover nearly every real-world scenario.