Not everyone has a version of Microsoft Word installed on their machine and if you try to send them a .docx word document it will probably not open on their machine, that’s why most people send a PDF document these days.
The reason why is PDF viewer is a free software that you can install, you don’t need a license and you don’t need to pay for anything, anyone can view a PDF document if they have the free software installed.
On the other hand, Microsoft Word is part of the Office 360 software package and that means you have to have a paid subscription in order to open any .docx document and not everyone has that these days (especially with Google docs being free).
So let’s go through a 4 steps easy process to convert a Microsoft Word document to PDF so you can always attach a version in case others don’t have Word installed on their machines.
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Create a PDF from Your Word Document
Alright, if you have Microsoft Word installed on your Desktop PC or if you have a Mac version doesn’t matter the steps are the same.
- Step 1: Go to the top left of the screen and click “File”
- Step 2: From the Left vertical menu click on “Save As”
- Step 3: Right where you see Word Document (*.docx) click on the Dropdown arrow
- Step 4: Select PDF (*.pdf) from the dropdown list
- Step 4: Choose a name for your file and click “Save”
No Microsoft Word? No Problem
in case you received a Microsoft Word file and you want a PDF version but you dont the software installed on your Computer there are a couple of online solutions that could help you convert the .docx file to PDF for free.
- I Love PDF – This online free tool allows you to upload your Word file and convert it to PDF for free, it’s simple and easy to use.
- Small PDF – a Similar tool to help you easily convert your Microsoft Word file to PDF, of course, if you want more features and you have lots of files to convert it might be a good idea to see their paid plans as well.
- Google Drive – If you have a Gmail account you can use Google Drive, just simply upload your word document and open it in Google Docs and there you can Export it as PDF.
Hope this article helped you convert your Microsoft Word file into PDF and gave you several alternative solutions.