How to Compare PDF and Word Files: Top 3 Methods

Have you ever faced a situation working on versions of a PDF document and all the editing is being done in the Word format? When you need to compare those two tools, you may not find many effective solutions out there. Instead of going for manual comparison, you must know how to compare PDF and Word files efficiently.

Manual comparison is only possible for very short documents of a single page or two. When your documents get lengthy, this comparison gets difficult. To make things easier for you, we have listed the 3 most effective ways of making this comparison.

These methods will surely turn your tasks of minutes into a few seconds. Hence, making you efficient with convenient comparison.

What Are the 3 Ways to Compare Word and PDF Documents Side by Side?

When the comparison is done between PDF and Word documents, people often think of opening both files side-by-side and comparing manually. It is because there seems to be no tool that comes under a budget-friendly price and lets you make the comparison.

In most workspaces, PDF documents are lengthy, and manual comparison is not an option. That's where you can use the following 3 solutions to compare Word and PDF documents side by side:

1. UPDF
2. WPS
3. Draftable

Method 1: Compare PDF and Word with UPDF 

UPDF is the first tool to compare PDF and Word document free. It is an ideal solution for everything you need to do with PDFs and it supports working with other documents as well.

When it comes to comparing documents with UPDF you get a side-by-side layout that is very user-friendly. UPDF has this toggle button on top that lets you highlight changes for quick comparison and overview. Similarly, there is synced scrolling feature to ensure that you can efficiently compare same sections of both the documents.

Moreover, UPDF has filters to see different changes. Lastly, to make things even more convenient it offers a dedicated list of all changes on the right side of UPDF interface where you can overview and select any change quickly. UPDF makes the process to compare PDF and Word effortless with the steps below:

Step 1: Convert Word to PDF using UPDF

Click the below button to download UPDF. Run UPDF app software on your computer and click “File” to select “Create" option and select "PDF from Word". Save it in PDF format on computer storage. We will use this file with UPDF for comparison. 

Step 2: Use Compare Files Feature and Select PDFs

Open UPDF new tab from top and choose “Compare Files” feature. UPDF will ask you to select 2 different files that you can select from recent and offline storage.

It also has some nifty controls like page range for each document. Click "Compare".

Step 3: Use Side-By-Side Comparison Features and Filter

Now both your files will appear in a side-by-side manner. You can use top menu features for convenience like synced scrolling and highlighting the results.

On the right side of UPDF interface, you will see a quick list of all differences in these files which is clickable for convenience.

Moreover, you may use the “Filter” button to select which changes are shown when comparing these two files in UPDF.

For a more detail guide, you can watch the video below.

While UPDF makes comparing your documents so easy, it has many other features to enhance your overall experience while working with PDFs. To access features like UPDF’s AI, OCR, and more, download it right now and purchase UPDF Pro at a low price if you like it.

Method 2: Compare PDF and Word with WPS Office

Another tool that you can use for this comparison is WPS. It is an all-in-one solution for all your document processing needs, just like Microsoft Office. It also supports online and offline usage, but some key features are limited to the premium version only.

When it comes to comparing Word and PDF documents with WPS, you cannot expect the best experience. While it has some change tracking features built-in, the interface when comparing documents side-by-side is not very efficient.

It lacks another feature of not automatically highlighting changes. However, it makes editing the Word document during comparison easy since it is an Office software. Remember that the comparison feature is only available for premium users.

Step 1: Open WPS and Open Document

First of all, run WPS on your computer. Click on the “PDF to Word” to convert the PDF to Word file. Now two files are in Word format.

Click "Document" > "Open". It will open one file in WPS and we will open second using compare feature.

Step 2: Use Compare Feature to Open Other Document

As your document opens in WPS you will see it on the interface. Now you will click “Review” from top and use the “Compare" button to select your second file, click "OK".

Now, you can select the Word files you want to compare.

Step 3: Compare Both Documents

WPS will now open both your documents in side-by-side view where you can not only compare them but edit the editable file and use other WPS features as required.

Method 3: Compare PDF and Word Online with

If you want to quickly compare the Word and PDF files without accessing your computer with dedicated software installed on it then Draftable will be the right option for you. It is one of the best online document comparison software, and it supports working with PDFs, Word, and PowerPoint files.

Draftable brings some comprehensive document comparison features like synced scrolling and jumping through changes. Moreover, it allows users to customize the colors used for highlighting different changes which makes comparison more efficient. It also displays the number of words added or removed with every change.

However, on the downside, it only allows comparing documents and does not offer any editing features. So, you will need a separate tool if you want to edit while comparing the two documents.

Step 1: Open Draftable Compare Page and Upload Documents

Open draftable.com/compare and upload documents. It works online so which browser is used does not matter. You can upload the documents one by one according to their versions. Click "Choose File" for file 1 for Word. Do the same for the second file that will be PDF and wait until both files are ready on Draftable and wait until then.

Step 2: Click Compare

Once you see ready status below both files you can click “Compare" and Draftable will display your documents in a side-by-side manner. It will automatically highlight the changes where blue color will highlight the inserted words and red will display the deleted or replaced ones.

Here you can also use intuitive features of Draftable like scroll lock, scroll page, side by side/single document comparison. Moreover, it supports skipping between changes via the buttons on top or you may use the right pane showing all changes as a list.

Conclusion

Where manual comparison of lengthy files can take forever, our 3 methods to compare PDF and Word documents can be life-saving for you. Now, you do not need to do anything manually as the 3 solutions we discussed here will do everything for you, give you a side-by-side comparison, and highlight all changes.

However, if you are looking for an in-depth comparison with additional features then UPDF will be your best choice. It is because you can make changes right to your PDF documents with it which makes comparison and versioning much more efficient. When you use UPDF, this comparison and any changes you make will be instant.

Moreover, it offers the latest features like UPDF AI and powerful OCR to make things even better. To compare your documents with ease download UPDF now and purchase its premium version for accessing all the powerful features.