How to split a Word document and save as separate PDF files?

While it's straightforward to save a whole Word document as a single PDF file, there are times when you might need to split the document and save each page or section as separate PDF files.

In this article, we will introduce methods to quickly split a Word document and save the pages as separate PDF files:

Split a Word document and save as separate PDF files with VBA

Split a Word document by pages/heading1/ break and save as PDF using Kutools

Video: Split a Word document and save as separate PDF files

Split a Word document and save as separate PDF files with VBA

If you need to split a Word document and save each page as a separate PDF, this VBA code provides a quick and efficient way to do so.

1. Press Alt + F11 to open the "Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications" window.
2. Click "Insert" > "Module", then copy and paste the code below into the module window:

   Sub SaveAsSeparatePDFs()
   'UpdatebyExtendoffice20181120
       Dim I As Long
       Dim xDlg As FileDialog
       Dim xFolder As Variant
       Dim xStart, xEnd As Integer
       On Error GoTo lbl
       Set xDlg = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
       If xDlg.Show <> -1 Then Exit Sub
       xFolder = xDlg.SelectedItems(1)
       xStart = CInt(InputBox("Start Page", "KuTools for Word"))
       xEnd = CInt(InputBox("End Page:", "KuTools for Word"))
       If xStart <= xEnd Then
           For I = xStart To xEnd
               ActiveDocument.ExportAsFixedFormat OutputFileName:= _
                   xFolder & "\Page_" & I & ".pdf", ExportFormat:=wdExportFormatPDF, _
                   OpenAfterExport:=False, OptimizeFor:=wdExportOptimizeForPrint, Range:= _
                   wdExportFromTo, From:=I, To:=I, Item:=wdExportDocumentContent, _
                   IncludeDocProps:=False, KeepIRM:=False, CreateBookmarks:= _
                   wdExportCreateHeadingBookmarks, DocStructureTags:=True, _
                   BitmapMissingFonts:=False, UseISO19005_1:=False
           Next
       End If
       Exit Sub
   lbl:
       MsgBox "Enter a valid page number", vbInformation, "KuTools for Word"
   End Sub

3. Press F5 to run the code. A "Browse" window will pop up. Select a folder to save the PDF files.

   

4. Click "OK", then enter the starting page number and ending page number of the document. Tip: You can split just a portion of the document by entering a specific page range instead of the entire document.

   

5. Click "OK". The selected pages will now be saved as separate PDF files in the folder you chose.

   

Split a Word document by pages/Heading 1/break and save as PDF using Kutools

If you are not familiar with VBA code, you can use an add-in tool – "Kutools for Word". Its "Split" feature allows you to split a Word document into smaller files based on page breaks, page numbers, Heading 1, section breaks, every nth page, or custom page numbers. After splitting, you can use the "Convert Multiple Word Documents to PDF" tool to batch convert the split Word documents to PDF files.

Step 1: Split the document

1. Open the Word document that you want to split and click "Kutools Plus" > "Split".

   

2. In the "Split Document" dialog, select the split rule in the "Split by" section. Then, specify the saving location and file prefix. Click "OK".

   

   Tip: The "Split by" section offers six splitting options. For details, see the feature tutorial.

   

The split documents are now saved in the specified location.

Step 2: Batch convert the split Word documents to PDF files

1. After splitting the document, click Kutools > PDF and Word > Convert Multiple Word Documents to PDF.

   

2. In the Docx to PDF dialog box, follow these steps:
   1. Click the Add Files drop-down arrow, and select Add Folder to choose the folder containing the split documents.
   2. By default, PDFs are saved in the same folder as the original files. To change the location, uncheck the Save generated PDF files in the same folder as the original Word file option and click Browse.
   3. Once all settings are complete, click Start Conversion.

      

The split Word documents are now converted to separate PDF files.

Splitting a Word document and saving the parts as separate PDF files can be challenging because Microsoft Word does not provide a built-in option to export each page or section as an individual PDF. However, by choosing the right method, you can complete the task efficiently and accurately.

• Using VBA is a practical option if you need to split a document by pages and are comfortable working with code, allowing you to export selected pages as separate PDF files.
• Using Kutools for Word is a faster and more user-friendly solution, enabling you to split documents by pages, headings, or breaks and then batch convert the results to PDF files without writing any VBA code.

By selecting the method that best matches your experience level and document structure, you can easily split Word documents and generate separate PDF files, saving time and reducing manual effort.

I hope you find the tutorial helpful. If you're looking to explore more Word tips and tricks, please click here to access our extensive collection of tutorials.