What happens to a PDF you upload here

Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

“Files are deleted automatically” is easy to write. Here is what it means on this site, step by step, taken from the code that runs the converter, including the parts that are less tidy than a slogan.

1. Upload

Your browser sends each PDF to our server over HTTPS. Traffic passes through Cloudflare, our network provider, on the way, as it does for every page of this site. The server accepts files up to 50 MB that end in .pdf and start with the PDF file signature; anything else is rejected immediately. A file that needs a password to open is also rejected immediately.

2. Storage while converting

Each file gets its own folder, named with a random 32-character job number, inside the converter’s container on our server. There is no shared disk or storage volume: the folder exists only inside the running converter. The server keeps the file name, the job number and the conversion status in memory.

3. Conversion

The conversion runs on the same server, with open-source software: OCRmyPDF and Tesseract for scanned pages, pdf2docx for building the Word file, and LibreOffice as a fallback. Nothing is sent to any outside service for conversion, and no person looks at your file.

4. Download and deletion

• As soon as your browser has downloaded the Word file, the job folder (your PDF, any intermediate files and the Word file) is deleted, and the job record is removed from memory. We checked this: after downloading, the job no longer exists and the folder is empty.
• If you close the page before downloading, or the conversion fails, a clean-up task that runs every 5 minutes deletes any job older than 15 minutes. In practice, nothing is left after about 20 minutes.
• Every update of the converter also wipes everything, because the folders live only inside the converter’s container and a new container starts empty.

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What is logged

• Web server log: each request line, with the visitor IP address forwarded by Cloudflare, time, address requested and browser type. This is standard for websites and is used for security and fixing problems. The log is capped in size (three files of 10 MB per service, oldest overwritten first) and starts empty whenever the service is rebuilt.
• Converter log: if a conversion fails, the random job number and the technical error are logged. File names are not logged (we removed them on 2026-10-25), and file contents never are.
• A conversion counter: each successful conversion adds one to a count we use to see how much the site is used. It contains no file name, content or IP address.

What we do not do

• No account, email address or payment is asked for.
• Files are not kept, backed up, read, shared or used to train anything.
• There is no “recent files” feature, so there is nothing to recover later: if you need the file again, convert it again.

Ads and analytics

The converter page shows Google AdSense ads, and Google may use cookies for them as described in our privacy policy. Ads and analytics never see your files: the file goes only to our own server. We count visits with Umami, which we host ourselves and which sets no cookies.

When not to use an online converter

If a document must not leave your computer, because of a contract, a professional duty of confidentiality or simply your own preference, do not upload it anywhere, including here. Microsoft Word can convert text PDFs on your own computer; see the methods comparison.

Questions

If anything here is unclear or you think it is wrong, write to contact@pdf-to-word.online. The site is run by Rizon Lab, a small software business in Greece; see the About page.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you keep my files?

They are deleted as soon as you download the converted file. Files that are never downloaded are deleted by a clean-up task within about 20 minutes.

Are my files sent to another company for conversion?

No. Conversion runs on our own server with open-source software. Traffic passes through Cloudflare, our network provider, on the way to the server.

Do you log file names?

No. Since 2026-10-25 failed conversions are logged by a random job number only.