Convert: Anything to PDF — every question, answered
104 detailed answers covering every supported format, merging, image quality, spreadsheets, paper sizes, privacy, compatibility and troubleshooting. Can't find your question? Email us.
1. Getting started & installation
What is Convert: Anything to PDF?
A free Chrome extension that converts files and web pages to PDF entirely on your device. It handles images (JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, BMP), text and markup (TXT, HTML, Markdown, JSON, XML), CSV spreadsheets, and the active browser tab. It also merges several files into one PDF.
How do I install it?
Install it from the Chrome Web Store listing, then click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar, find Convert: Anything to PDF, and click the pin icon to keep it visible in the toolbar.
Is Convert: Anything to PDF really free?
Yes. No watermarks, no file size limits, no premium tier, no account required. The extension is funded by us, not by ads or your data.
Do I need to create an account?
No. There is no account, no sign-in, and no email required. Install it and it works.
How do I open the extension after installing?
Click the extension icon in the toolbar. The popup offers two paths: "This Page" to convert the web page you're currently on, or "Upload Files" to convert files from your computer.
What permissions does it ask for, and why?
It needs access to the active tab so it can render the page you ask it to convert, and downloads permission so it can save the finished PDF. File conversion itself happens in the page context using bundled libraries, so no network permission is needed for it.
Does installing it slow down Chrome?
No. The extension does nothing until you click it — there is no background process watching your browsing, no content script running on every page, and no telemetry loop.
How do I uninstall it?
Right-click the extension icon and choose "Remove from Chrome", or go to chrome://extensions and click Remove. The extension stores no persistent data, so there is nothing to clean up afterwards.
2. Supported formats
What file formats can I convert to PDF?
Images: JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, BMP. Text and markup: TXT, HTML, Markdown, JSON, XML. Data: CSV. Plus the active browser tab. That is 13 file formats and web pages.
Is this the same as "anyfile to PDF" or "any file to PDF"?
Yes — Convert: Anything to PDF is the tool people are usually looking for when they search for those phrases. It converts any supported file plus any open browser tab into a real PDF, on your device, with no upload, no watermark and no account.
Can I convert Word documents (.docx) directly?
No. Office files are ZIP archives of XML plus a full rendering model, so converting one faithfully means implementing most of a word processor. Use File → Export → Create PDF in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice — the source application produces better output than any converter would.
Can I convert Excel (.xlsx) spreadsheets directly?
Not directly. Export your spreadsheet to CSV first (in Excel: File → Save As → CSV UTF-8; in Google Sheets: File → Download → Comma-separated values), then drop the CSV into the extension. CSVs with 6+ columns auto-detect as wide and switch to landscape orientation.
Can I convert PowerPoint (.pptx) files?
No — same reason as Word and Excel. Export to PDF from PowerPoint or Google Slides directly.
Can I convert an existing PDF?
There is nothing to convert — it is already a PDF. The extension creates PDFs from other formats; it does not edit, split, compress or merge existing PDF files.
Can I convert HEIC photos from my iPhone?
Not directly. Convert HEIC to JPG first — macOS and Windows both do this natively — then convert the JPG. HEIC support across tools generally is inconsistent, so converting to JPG is worth doing regardless.
Can I convert a TIFF file?
No, TIFF is not among the supported image formats. Convert it to PNG or JPG first using any image editor or your operating system's built-in preview tool.
Can I convert a .eml or .msg email file?
No. Open the message in your mail client and use its own Print → Save as PDF, which preserves headers and formatting properly.
Can I convert a ZIP archive?
No. Extract it first, then convert the supported files inside — and if there are several, drop them all in at once to merge them into one PDF.
Can it handle password-protected source files?
No — encrypted PDFs and password-protected source files can't be read. For all other formats (images, text, CSV) encryption isn't relevant. The output PDFs are not password-protected.
Will you add more formats?
Format requests are tracked. Office formats are unlikely, because the source applications already export excellent PDFs and reimplementing their layout engines is not a good use of a browser extension.
3. Converting files
How do I convert a file to PDF?
Click the extension icon, choose "Upload Files", drag your file into the drop zone (or click to browse), pick paper size and orientation, then click Convert. The PDF downloads immediately.
Can I drag and drop files?
Yes. The drop zone accepts drag and drop, and it accepts several files at once.
Where does the PDF save to?
To Chrome's default download folder — usually ~/Downloads on Mac and Linux, or C:\Users\<you>\Downloads on Windows. The extension respects whatever Chrome is set to, so change it in Chrome's Settings → Downloads.
How long does a conversion take?
Usually a second or two. Large images, very long text files, or merging many files at once take longer because everything is processed in your browser rather than on a server.
Is there a file size limit?
No limit imposed by the extension. Because conversion happens entirely on your device, the only practical limit is your computer's available memory. Multi-hundred-page outputs and large image batches have been tested without issue.
Is there a limit on how many files I can convert?
No. There is no conversion cap, no daily limit and no paid tier. Because everything runs on your device, there is no server metering anything.
Can I convert several files into separate PDFs at once?
Dropping several files in produces one merged PDF rather than separate files. To get separate PDFs, convert them one at a time.
Can I choose the output filename?
The PDF is named from the source file. Rename it after download if you need something specific — the file is on your machine, not in a service you have to go back to.
Does the extension work offline?
File conversion makes no network requests, so it works without a connection. Converting the active web page obviously needs the page to have loaded first.
Can I convert a file directly from a website without downloading it?
No — file conversion works on files on your computer. Download the file first, or if the content is a web page rather than a file, use "This Page".
4. Merging files into one PDF
Can I merge multiple files into one PDF?
Yes. Drag in any number of files — mixed formats are fine, for example three images plus a CSV plus a Markdown file — and they are combined into a single PDF in the order you list them. There is no merge limit.
How do I control the order of merged files?
Files are combined in the order you list them. The reliable trick is to number your filenames first — 01-cover.txt, 02-receipt.jpg, 03-data.csv — so alphabetical order matches your intended order.
Can I merge different file types together?
Yes. Images, CSV, Markdown, text, HTML, JSON and XML can all go into one PDF in a single pass.
Can I add a cover page?
Write a plain .txt or .md file listing what's inside, and include it as the first file. It takes a few minutes and it's the page anyone reading the document will use to navigate it.
Can I use different paper sizes for different files in one merge?
No — one paper size and orientation applies to the whole merged document. If the set is mixed, pick the orientation that suits most of the content, or convert the outliers separately.
Can I merge existing PDF files together?
No. The extension creates PDFs from other formats; it does not combine existing PDFs. Use your operating system's tools for that — macOS Preview merges PDFs natively, and free desktop tools cover it on Windows.
Is there a limit to how many files I can merge?
No fixed limit. Very large batches are bounded only by your machine's memory, so if an enormous merge stalls, do it in two passes.
Can I remove a file after adding it to the merge list?
Yes — adjust the file selection before clicking Convert. Nothing is committed until you convert.
5. Images
Which image formats are supported?
JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF and BMP.
Does converting reduce image quality?
No. Image conversion preserves the source resolution and the PDF is generated without quality loss. For 300 DPI scans the output is print-ready.
How do I combine several photos into one PDF?
Drop them all into the upload area at once. They are merged into a single PDF in the order listed, so number the filenames if the order matters.
What happens to an animated GIF?
The first frame is used. A PDF is a static document, so animation cannot be preserved.
How is SVG handled?
An SVG is rendered and placed into the PDF at a fixed size. It does not remain infinitely scalable vector artwork inside the PDF.
Should I resize photos before converting?
If the PDF has an upload limit to meet, yes. Phone photos are often several megabytes each; resizing to roughly 1500–2500px on the long edge is plenty of detail for on-screen reading and cuts file size dramatically.
Does it preserve EXIF metadata like capture date and GPS?
No. Converting produces a document, not a forensic copy — EXIF data is not carried into the PDF. Keep the original image files if that information matters.
Can it make text inside a scanned image searchable?
No. There is no OCR in the extension. An image of text stays an image in the PDF — visible, but not selectable or searchable. If you need searchable text from a scan, you need a dedicated OCR tool.
Why is there white space around my image in the PDF?
The image is being placed on a paper size with a different aspect ratio. Match the orientation to the image — landscape for wide photos, portrait for tall ones — and the empty bands shrink considerably.
Can I convert a screenshot to PDF?
Yes — screenshots are PNG or JPG files, so drop them straight in. Several screenshots merge into one document if you add them together.
6. Spreadsheets, data and text
How does CSV conversion work?
A CSV renders as a properly formatted table rather than a wall of comma-separated text. Files with six or more columns are detected as wide and switch to landscape orientation automatically.
Why does my CSV show strange characters like é instead of é?
The file is not UTF-8 — it is probably Windows-1252 or ISO-8859-1, which is common from older software and database exports. Re-save it as UTF-8, or export from Excel using "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)" rather than plain "CSV".
My CSV table is cut off on the right. What do I do?
Use landscape orientation, which happens automatically at six or more columns but can also be set manually. For very wide data, Tabloid in landscape gives considerably more room.
What happens to my Excel formulas?
CSV stores computed values rather than formulas, so the PDF shows the results. That is usually what you want in a document; if you need formulas visible, use Excel's own PDF export.
How do I convert a multi-sheet workbook?
CSV holds one sheet, so export each sheet as its own CSV and then merge them by dropping all the CSVs in together.
How is Markdown rendered?
Markdown is typeset properly — headings, lists and emphasis are rendered rather than shown as raw syntax. Useful for notes from Obsidian, exports from Notion, and design docs.
Will images referenced in my Markdown file appear?
Images referenced by relative local path will not resolve, because only the Markdown file itself is converted. Convert the images separately and merge, or render the Markdown to HTML in your editor first.
Can I convert a local HTML file?
Yes, and it works well for self-contained pages. It does not work for a page whose content is fetched by JavaScript at runtime — for those, open the file in a browser tab and use "This Page" instead.
Why is my converted HTML file blank?
The page's content is almost certainly loaded by JavaScript, so the file itself contains only an empty shell. Open the file in a browser tab and use "This Page", which captures the page after the scripts have run.
Why is my JSON all on one line in the PDF?
The source file is minified. Pretty-print it in your editor before converting — the conversion renders the file as it is, so formatting has to happen first.
7. Converting web pages
How do I convert the web page I'm looking at?
Click the extension icon and choose "This Page" rather than "Upload Files", pick paper size and orientation, then convert.
How is this different from Convert: Web to PDF?
This converts the current tab with paper size and orientation options. Convert: Web to PDF is the dedicated web-page tool and adds Article Mode, click-to-remove elements, lazy-image pre-loading, single-page export, and margin and scale control. If web pages are your main use case, use that one.
Does it work on pages I'm logged into?
Yes. It converts the page already rendered in your tab, so your session applies. Nothing is uploaded.
Can it convert Chrome's own settings pages?
No. Chrome blocks extensions from reading its internal pages such as chrome://settings and the Web Store, so those cannot be converted.
Will lazy-loaded images appear when converting a web page?
Only those already loaded. Scroll through the page first so deferred images fetch in. Convert: Web to PDF has a dedicated Load All Images step for exactly this problem.
Can it bypass a paywall?
No. It converts what your browser has already been served. Content the site never sent is not there to capture.
8. Output, paper sizes and quality
What paper sizes are supported?
A4, US Letter, US Legal and Tabloid. Orientation (portrait or landscape) is selectable per conversion, and CSV exports with many columns auto-switch to landscape.
What's the difference between A4 and Letter?
A4 is 210 × 297 mm and is the international standard. Letter is 8.5 × 11 in (about 216 × 279 mm) and is the US and Canadian standard. A4 is slightly narrower and taller. Pick whichever matches what the people printing or filing the PDF expect.
Are watermarks added to the output PDF?
No. Ever. The PDF you generate is yours and unbranded. The only marks in the output are whatever was in the source file.
Will the PDF have selectable text?
Yes, when the source contains real text — CSV, Markdown, TXT, HTML, JSON and XML all produce selectable, searchable text. An image source produces an image, which is not selectable, because there is no OCR.
Can I set custom margins?
Margins are not individually adjustable in this extension. If you need fine margin and scale control, Convert: Web to PDF offers per-conversion margin sliders and a scale setting for web pages.
Can I set a custom paper size?
No — the available sizes are A4, Letter, Legal and Tabloid. Custom dimensions are tracked as a feature request.
Does it produce PDF/A or PDF/UA compliant files?
No. It produces standard, text-based PDFs. If you need certified PDF/A archival conformance or PDF/UA accessibility validation — for regulatory filing, for instance — use a tool that validates and reports against those standards.
Can I password-protect the output PDF?
No. Output PDFs are not encrypted. Use your operating system or a dedicated PDF tool if you need to add a password.
9. Privacy & security
Will my files be uploaded anywhere?
No. The extension makes zero network requests during file conversion — everything runs locally in your browser using bundled libraries. Your files never touch any server.
Does the extension collect analytics or telemetry?
No. It collects no analytics, no telemetry, no performance metrics, no usage statistics, no IP addresses and no device fingerprints.
Does it see the content of what I convert?
No. The content of files and web pages you convert is never collected or transmitted. Conversion happens in the page context on your machine.
Does it track my browsing history?
No. Browsing history, URLs visited and tab activity are never collected. The extension does nothing until you click it.
So does any data ever leave my browser?
Only in two voluntary, user-initiated cases: if you actively submit the in-app rating prompt, and if you choose to fill in the uninstall survey Chrome opens when you remove the extension. Dismissing or ignoring either collects nothing.
What exactly does the in-app feedback form send?
Only what you type or select: a star rating from 1 to 5, your free-text message, an optional feedback category, and an optional email address if you want a reply. Nothing else is attached.
Is it safe to convert confidential documents?
The file never leaves your machine, so there is no third-party service holding a copy — which is the main risk with upload-based online converters. Beyond that, apply your organisation's own policy on handling the document.
Will my company's IT or DLP tools flag it?
There is no upload to detect. The file is read, processed in memory and written back to disk, so from the network's point of view nothing happens. That is exactly the property that makes local conversion defensible in a managed environment.
10. Compatibility
Which browsers does it work on?
Any Chromium-based browser: Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera and Vivaldi. Firefox and Safari are not supported because the underlying APIs differ.
Does it work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
Yes, on all three. It is a browser extension, so the operating system makes no difference as long as you are running a Chromium browser.
Does it work on a Chromebook?
Yes. ChromeOS runs Chrome, so the extension works normally and conversions still happen locally on the device.
Does it work on Chrome for Android or iOS?
No. Chrome on mobile does not support extensions. For occasional mobile conversions, the browser-based converter on our site works on any device.
Will there be a Firefox version?
Not currently planned. The extension relies on Chromium-specific APIs, so a Firefox build would be a substantial rewrite rather than a port.
Does it work in Incognito mode?
Yes, if you enable it for Incognito in chrome://extensions. Chrome disables extensions in Incognito by default as a precaution.
Will it conflict with other extensions?
Conflicts are rare because the extension only acts when you click it. If a conversion behaves oddly, an aggressive content blocker or a page-restyling extension is the usual culprit — test with them disabled.
11. Troubleshooting
Why is my converted PDF blank?
Either the source is genuinely empty — a CSV with only headers, or a whitespace-only text file — or it is a local HTML file whose content loads via JavaScript. For the second case, open the file in a browser tab and convert with "This Page".
The file has the right extension but converts to gibberish. Why?
The extension is probably wrong. Nothing enforces file extensions, and export tools frequently mislabel their output. Open the file in a text editor: "%PDF-" means it is a PDF, "PK" plus binary means a ZIP-based Office file, "<html" means HTML. Rename to the true format and convert again.
Nothing happens when I select my file. Why?
The format is probably unsupported — most often a .docx, .xlsx or .pptx. Export to PDF from the application that created it, or for spreadsheets save as CSV and convert that.
The conversion freezes or Chrome says the page is unresponsive.
The job has exhausted the memory available to a browser tab. Split very large CSVs into chunks of around 10,000 rows, resize huge images before converting, merge in smaller batches, and close other heavy tabs.
Why do I see empty boxes instead of characters?
That is a font issue rather than an encoding one — the characters decoded correctly, but no installed font has glyphs for them. Common with CJK, Arabic or Indic scripts on a system without those fonts. Install a font covering the script (Noto is the free, comprehensive family).
The PDF is much larger than I expected.
Image resolution is almost always the reason, since images are preserved at source resolution. Resize images before converting if file size matters more than maximum detail.
My download didn't start.
Check Chrome's download settings — if "Ask where to save each file" is on, a dialog may be waiting behind another window. Also check that downloads are not blocked for the site.
The output is truncated partway through.
Usually a corrupt or incomplete source file. Open it in its native application to confirm, and re-download it if it fails there too.
Conversion stopped working after a Chrome update.
Reload the extension at chrome://extensions, or remove and reinstall it. If it persists, report it — Chrome occasionally changes an API in a way that needs a fix on our side.
How do I report a bug or request a feature?
Use the in-app feedback form, or email feedback@actuallyusefulextensions.com. Telling us the file format and roughly what the file contained is usually enough to reproduce it.
12. Comparisons with other tools
Is this a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat?
For file-to-PDF and web-to-PDF conversion, yes — it replaces the parts of Acrobat most people actually use, at no cost and without an Adobe account. Acrobat still wins for editing text inside existing PDFs, OCR, certificate-based digital signatures and enterprise redaction.
How does it compare to Smallpdf and iLovePDF?
Those are hosted services: your file is uploaded, processed on their servers and downloaded back. They handle Office formats, which this does not. In exchange, they meter free usage by file count or size, and your document passes through infrastructure you do not control. This runs on your device with no cap and no upload.
How does it compare to Chrome's built-in Print to PDF?
Chrome's print dialog only handles things Chrome can display — it cannot take a folder of images and produce one merged PDF, and it will not render a CSV as a formatted table. For a single web page, Chrome's print is perfectly adequate.
Should I use this or Convert: Web to PDF?
Files, merging, images and spreadsheets: this one. Web pages, especially long or cluttered ones you want to clean up first: Convert: Web to PDF, which has Article Mode, element removal, lazy-image loading and single-page export.
Why not just use a free online converter?
For a public brochure, do whatever is quickest. For a contract, a medical letter, a bank statement or anything with your details on it, uploading means the file passes through a third party's infrastructure for a task a browser can do locally. Free tiers also cap file sizes and daily conversions, usually at the worst moment.
Do free online converters add watermarks?
Some do on certain outputs or tiers, and it is not always obvious in advance. This extension never adds one.
What can't this extension do that a paid tool can?
Editing text inside an existing PDF, OCR on scans, legally binding e-signatures, PDF/A and PDF/UA validation, redaction, form design, and converting Office formats directly. Those are real gaps, and where they matter a paid tool is the right answer.