Unable to edit Excel file created from PDF using Acrobat

Problem: Unable to edit MS Excel file created from PDF using Acrobat

When you convert a PDF to an MS Excel file using Acrobat, you are unable to edit the Excel file. This is due to the presence of live text such as title, header, or footer along with an image in the PDF.

Solution: Create a registry key to force-enable OCR on the PDF

Due to the presence of live text along with an image in the PDF, OCR is not turned ON by default. You have to force-enable the OCR to run on the PDF using the following registry key.

Steps to create the registry key to force-enable OCR:

  1. Quit Acrobat application if it's already running.

  2. Open the registry editor -  go to Run (Windows menu + R), type regedit.exe in the Open field and click OK.

  3. In the registry editor, go to the following location

    For 64-bit systems

    • Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\(Wow6432Node)\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureState

    For 32-bit systems

    • Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureState
  4. Under FeatureState, create a key of type DWORD and name it ExportRunOCR. Change its value to 1.

  5. Close the registry editor.

    Open Acrobat, and convert the PDF to Excel file. You are able to edit the Excel file now.

 Adobe

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