Q&A: Translating PDF to Word I know you can save a Microsoft Word document as a PDF file, but can you go the other way and save a PDF as a Word document that can be edited? Several third-party sites or shareware programs can do the job for free or for a small fee, which may be the best option if you just have a small number of files to convert. The converter page on the PDF Online site, the Smart PDF Converter page and shareware like Free PDF to Word Converter for Windows are among the options. Adobe, which originally developed the PDF format, has instructions for converting PDF files to Word files with its $20-a-year Acrobat.com ExportPDF service on its site. The company also has conversion instructions posted for those using its Acrobat desktop software.