How to Convert a PDF Table to Excel or Numbers on Mac
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Highlights can recognize and extract tables from PDFs using machine learning. This includes a wide range of table types with different formatting, alignments and merged cells.
1. Make an image selection over the table you want extracted:
![Image selection over a table in a PDF](/img/pdf/table-selection.png)
2. Click on the image selection to bring up the annotation popover:
![Annotation popover for image selection](/img/mac/popover/image-selection.png)
3. Click the Table Recognition button:
![](/img/mac/popover/table-selection.png)
Wait for the table to be recognized:
![](/img/mac/popover/table-recognition.png)
Once the recognition is complete your table contents will appear in the annotation comment:
![](/img/mac/popover/table.png)
And the image in your notes will be replaced with the table:
![](/img/note/extracted-table.png)
4. Click the Smart Copy button to copy the table data as CSV:
![](/img/mac/popover/table-copy.png)
5. Paste it in Excel, Numbers or your spreadsheet application of choice:
![](/img/mac/smart-copy-numbers.png)
The table recognition language is the same as the text recognition language and can be changed from Menu > Tools > Recognized Language:
![](/img/mac/preferences/recognized-language-menu.png)