(2024) How To Save Word Documents As PDF

You’re probably here because:

• You’ve got a Microsoft Word document;
• But you want to save it as PDF;
• And you don’t really know how to do it.

Fear not, you’ve come into the right place. We’re now going to show you the quickest way to save a Word file as PDF.

Can you save Word as PDF on Mac?

Yes, you can save a Word document as PDF on Mac by opening the file in the built-in Preview app and opening the print menu (CMD + P) to select Download as PDF. The computer will then create a PDF copy of your Microsoft Word document.

To save a Word document as PDF on Mac, do the following:

1. Open the Word file in Preview;
2. Select File → Print (top-left corner);
3. Click Download as PDF.

Saving Word documents as PDF on Mac works just the same as on Windows. You can also turn a PDF into a Word document on Mac with SignHouse.

For now, let’s check out the step-by-step process to converting a Word to PDF using the Microsoft Word app.

How to save Word file as PDF (Convert)

1. Open a Word document.
2. Click File (the top-left corner).
3. The Save As menu opens automatically.
4. Select Download as PDF.
5. Your Word document is now converted to PDF.

The same process works on both the desktop and the web apps — meaning you have to do the same thing whether you use the downloaded Word app or you’ve gone to the online Word app to edit documents.

Upon clicking “Download as PDF”, Word will turn your DOCX file into a PDF — the contents will be the same and only the format will change.

You should wait a couple of seconds for the download to start, and then Word will let you know when the changes are finished.

Why can’t I save a Word document as a PDF?

You can’t save a Word document as a PDF because the app cannot find your file’s contents. A quick fix is to open the Word document and select File > Share > Send PDF, as your Mail app and you will be able to share a PDF attachment of the file.

Another reason why you can’t save a Word document as PDF is because the app cannot find your file. A fix for the “Sorry, we couldn’t find your file” message is to  share your file via email (File > Share > Send PDF), as it will be turned into a PDF.

That’s it! You’ve just learned how to save a Word document as PDF.