How to Convert WordPad to PDF? (4 Free Ways)

WordPad is a built-in application that comes with the Windows operating system. It offers some functionality that the Microsoft Word and Notepad applications have. While it has more features and a better interface than the Notepad app, its features are lesser than MS Word while it offers a similar and more user-friendly UI.

It uses the RTF file format as its default, and that may not be the best format for cross-device usage. So, there will be multiple use cases where you need to convert WordPad to PDF, like a standard viewing experience needed across multiple devices, advanced editing capabilities, etc.

Therefore, we have put this guide with the 4 most effective ways you can follow for converting your WordPad files to PDF. And in case you need to edit PDFs after converting, we will introduce UPDF which can be used to edit your PDF easily in Part 5 after showing the 4 effective ways. Here, you can click the below button to download the free trial and use it to edit the PDF directly.

Part 1. How to Convert WordPad to PDF Offline with WordPad App

Say that you have the WordPad app already installed on your device, then, there is no need to opt for any other method. It is because this method will be the safest and most reliable one. And you don't need to use any internet for this process as discussed below:

Steps: As you open your WordPad document in the WordPad application, you don't need to do anything but press "Ctrl + P" on your keyboard. It will open a printing pop-up menu. Here, you must ensure that your printer is set to "Microsoft Print to PDF" and click Print.

Now, you will follow the on-screen file saving steps where you may edit the destination location and file name for PDF before you click "Save"

Also Read: How to Solve Microsoft Print to PDF Missing? (5 Solutions)

Part 2. How to Change WordPad to PDF Offline with Microsoft Word

Using Microsoft Word for this conversion will be the most useful in cases when you don't have a WordPad app or you don't use a Windows device, but you got a WordPad file. It is because the MS Word application is available on other operating systems, whereas the WordPad app is not available on MacOS.

You can follow the below guideo to convert WordPad to PDF here.

Step 1: Start by opening your WordPad file in Microsoft Word program by right-clicking on this file and selecting "Word" from the "Open With" option. Clicking it will open your WordPad file in Microsoft Word if it is installed on your PC.

Step 2: Once the file is open, you need to go to "File" and click "Save As". Then, you will see this popup window with option to change "Save as type" for your file as well as its name and the target location.

Once you set the type to PDF, pick the right location and change the name of document, you may click "Save" and your WordPad file will convert to PDF and save in that location.

Part 3. How to Convert WordPad to PDF Free Online with CloudCovert

Sometimes, you don't have any offline options available to perform this conversion, and that's where online tools can be very helpful. One of those reliable online tools that can perform this conversion is CloudConvert.

Remember to search for RTF to PDF when using CloudConvert because RTF is the default file format used by WordPad files, and CloudConvert is capable of this conversion.

The good thing about using CloudConvert is that you can process multiple files at once, and it supports adding files from local or cloud storage along with a URL option.

Step 1: Open CloudConvert RTF to PDF page in your browser and click "Select File" for uploading RTF document from WordPad. After upload is complete, you need to click "Spanner" button, if you want to edit additional settings about this conversion otherwise proceed with the next step.

Step 2: Click "Convert" and your conversion will begin. You will see your file's conversion progress and once it is complete, you will get a "Download" button along with the PDF preview in your browser. You can click that download button to save the file on your local storage after this conversion.

Part 4. How to Convert WordPad to PDF Free Online with Convertio

The last option that you may use for converting WordPad files to PDF for free with an online experience is Convertio. It offers free online operation that works on every device. Remember that the maximum file size that you can upload here is 100MB which is more than enough for most WordPad documents.

Regardless, it offers options to pick files from cloud storage and local storage in addition to batch processing capabilities.

Step 1: Open your browser and head to Convertio RTF to PDF converter page. Click "Choose Files" to upload WordPad RTF file from storage option of your choice. When it uploads, you will see the conversion status which must be "Ready".

Step 2: Click "Convert" and see the conversion progress. Once it has successfully converted your file, you will see a "Download" button which can be clicked to save your PDF on offline storage. Ensure to save your file since Convertio only stores your files for 24 hours on server before deleting them automatically for security reasons.

Part 5. Bonus Tip: How to Edit PDF After Converting from WordPad?

When you convert your WordPad document to PDF format with tools introduced above, you will lose editing access since most tools do not have these features. That's where UPDF can be of great help to you. With UPDF, you get complete control over PDF editing. Since it has applications available on iPhones, Androids, Macs, and Windows PCs, you can edit PDFs anywhere, any time you need.

Along with that, it not only helps you edit the existing content but supports adding new content as well. And UPDF is very cheap and only costs as much as a cup of coffee. Regardless of its cheap price, it is completely focused on offering the best functionality and user experience.

UPDF is extremely easy to use, and its intuitive UPDF AI feature enhances your working efficiency. You can explore how well UPDF works for you by downloading its application via the below button.

Step 1: Start the UPDF software application on a PC using the desktop icon. To open PDF document that you just converted from WordPad, you can click "Open File" then pick the PDF document. Now click "Edit PDF," located in the left vertical menu, as it takes you to the PDF editing screen with all editing options displayed on top.

Step 2: Now, you can edit PDF the way you want. For editing existing content, you can double-click it and all editing options will display on top of the selected content. This method works for images, text, and even links in PDF.

If you want to add new content, you may click the relevant button from the top for adding text. For instance, you can click "Text" and then click anywhere in PDF where you need to add new text. Ensure you save your editing by clicking the "Save as Other" button from the right menu and picking the right option.

Editing PDFs is extremely easy with UPDF. It offers experience and functionality like that of any other text editing software. You can read the Tech Advisor review about UPDF, watch the below UPDF tutorial video, or download UPDF on your smartphones and computers via the below button to get in-depth insights into how it works for different use cases.

Final Words

Converting WordPad to PDF can make your viewing the content in WordPad much easier.You can choose any method introduced above to conver WordPad to PDF quickly. If  you need to edit your WordPad content after you converted it to PDF format, you can use UPDF.

UPDF not only brings the basic editing capabilities, but also many other features like Annotation, UPDF AI, etc. Download UPDF on smartphones and computers to experience professional-grade PDF editing functionality now.