TL;DR
You can convert images (JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, BMP), text and markup (TXT, HTML, Markdown, JSON, XML), CSV spreadsheets, and the active browser tab to PDF in one click, right in the browser, with Convert: Anything to PDF. Everything happens 100% on your device — no watermark, no file-size limit, no conversion cap, no account, and your files are never uploaded. You cannot convert .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, or encrypted PDFs directly — but there's a fast, honest workaround for each (export or print to PDF from the source app; save Excel as CSV first). And you can merge any mix of the supported formats into one PDF. This is the definitive, no-fluff guide to what's in and what's out.
The short answer, first
If you searched "anything to pdf," you want a straight list, not a sales pitch. Here it is.
Convert directly to PDF, one click, in the browser:
- Images: JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF (first frame), BMP
- Text and markup: TXT, HTML (a local
.htmlfile), Markdown (.md), JSON, XML - Tabular: CSV (rendered as a formatted table; 6+ columns auto-switches to landscape)
- Web: the active browser tab, including login-protected pages
Cannot convert directly (with the honest fix):
.docx/.doc→ export or print to PDF from Word/Google Docs.xlsx→ save the sheet as CSV first, then convert.pptx→ export to PDF from PowerPoint/Slides- Encrypted / password-protected PDFs → they're already PDFs; unlock at the source
Every conversion: on-device, no upload, no watermark, no size limit, no cap, no account. Merge any combination of the supported formats into a single PDF in the order you choose.
That's the whole tool in one screen. The rest of this guide walks each format with a real use case, then the honest "what we don't do," then how we compare to the big online converters. You can also see it laid out on the Convert: Anything to PDF tool page.
Every supported format, with a real use case
Images
JPG / JPEG — the universal photo format. Real use: turning a batch of phone photos (receipts, whiteboards, event shots) into one PDF to email or file. Resolution is preserved, so a 300 DPI scan stays print-ready.
PNG — screenshots and design exports. Real use: merging UI mockups and dashboard screenshots into a portfolio or a bug-report packet. PNG's lossless quality survives the conversion intact.
WebP — the modern web image format. Real use: you saved a batch of images off the web (or exported them from a design tool) as WebP and want them in a document without first converting each to JPG. Drop them straight in. (We wrote a dedicated walkthrough in convert WebP to PDF.)
SVG — vector graphics. Real use: brand and logo work. Because SVG is vector, it stays razor-sharp at any page size — a designer showing brand marks should drop the actual .svg rather than a raster export.
GIF — animated by nature, but a PDF is static, so the extension uses the first frame as a still image. Real use: capturing the opening frame of a prototype or animation as a reference image in a spec.
BMP — the legacy bitmap format. Real use: older scanners and some Windows tools still emit BMP; convert it without hunting for a separate tool.
Merge tip: all six image formats can go into one conversion together, in your chosen order — mix a JPG scan, a PNG screenshot, and an SVG logo in a single PDF.
Text and markup
TXT — plain text. Real use: turning a log excerpt, a plain-text draft, or a README into a clean, paginated PDF for sharing or filing. (See convert text files to PDF.)
HTML — a local .html file. Real use: you've saved a web page, an email export, or a generated report as an HTML file and want a portable PDF. The extension renders the HTML rather than showing raw tags. (Details in convert HTML files to PDF locally.) Note this is for a local .html file — to capture a live page you're viewing, use the active-tab feature below.
Markdown (.md) — the default note format for Obsidian, Notion exports, and AI-chat output. Real use: turning study notes or documentation into a typeset PDF — real headings, lists, code blocks, and tables, not raw # symbols. No pandoc or LaTeX install required. (Full guide: Markdown to PDF.)
JSON — structured API data. Real use: freezing an exact API response, webhook payload, or agent transaction log as a readable, permanent record for a bug ticket or audit. Rendered as formatted text, not an interactive tree. (Deep dive: JSON to PDF for audit logs.)
XML — the regulated-and-legacy structured format. Real use: making an HL7/FHIR clinical extract or a regulatory filing human-readable for an audit or a DSAR response — all on-device, so PHI never leaves the machine. (Deep dive: XML to PDF for healthcare and privacy audits.)
Tabular
CSV — comma-separated data. Real use: turning a Shopify export, a financial report, or an access log into a formatted PDF table for a board deck or a compliance file. It renders real rows and columns with header styling, and a CSV with 6 or more columns automatically switches to landscape so wide tables stay readable. (See convert CSV to PDF with proper table formatting.)
Web
The active browser tab — the page you're currently looking at, converted to a clean PDF. Real use: saving an article, a receipt, a confirmation page, or a login-protected page (your account settings, an internal dashboard) as a PDF snapshot. This uses the Chrome DevTools Protocol to render exactly what's on screen. Because it can see logged-in pages, it captures content that public "url to PDF" services can't reach.
That's the complete supported set. If it's on that list, it's a one-click, on-device conversion.
What we DON'T convert — and exactly what to do instead
We'd rather tell you straight than let you install and get frustrated. These formats are not supported directly, and here's the real fix for each.
.docx and .doc (Word documents)
Why not: Word's format is a complex, styled, zipped bundle. Rendering it faithfully is a whole product on its own, and doing it badly is worse than not doing it.
The fix — and it's genuinely easy: Word and Google Docs already export perfect PDFs. In Word: File → Save As → PDF, or File → Print → Save as PDF. In Google Docs: File → Download → PDF Document. You get a better result than any converter would give you, straight from the app that made the document. We walk through it in how to convert a Word document to PDF.
.xlsx (Excel spreadsheets)
Why not: Same reason as Word — multi-sheet, formula-laden, styled XML that doesn't render cleanly as a simple table.
The fix: In Excel, File → Save As → CSV for the sheet you want, then drop the CSV into the extension. You get a clean, formatted table — with auto-landscape for wide sheets. For a multi-sheet workbook, save each sheet as its own CSV and merge them into one PDF. Two extra clicks, and your data still never leaves your machine.
.pptx (PowerPoint presentations)
Why not: Slides are a layout format with animations, transitions, and precise positioning — a converter can't do them justice.
The fix: PowerPoint and Google Slides export PDFs natively and beautifully. In PowerPoint: File → Export → Create PDF/XPS or File → Save As → PDF. In Slides: File → Download → PDF Document. Each slide becomes a page.
Encrypted / password-protected PDFs
Why not: They're already PDFs — there's nothing to convert — and they're locked. Bypassing encryption is neither something we do nor something you'd want a random tool doing.
The fix: Remove the protection at the source (the app or account that encrypted it) if you're authorized to, then work with the unlocked file.
The pattern across all four: the source app is the right place to make a PDF, and for spreadsheets the CSV bridge gets you into the extension cleanly. No converter — ours or anyone's — beats "export to PDF" from the app that owns the format.
The privacy stance: why "on-device" is the headline feature
Everything above runs 100% on your device. Two engines do the work, both bundled in the extension:
- jsPDF builds PDFs from your files (images, text, CSV, JSON, XML, Markdown, HTML).
- Chrome DevTools Protocol renders the active browser tab to PDF.
There are zero network requests during conversion. Your files are never uploaded. That's not marketing — it's the architecture. A receipt with your card's last four digits, a clinical XML extract, an unpublished portfolio, a production API payload: none of it touches a server, because there's no server in the loop.
Contrast that with the standard online-converter model, where you upload your file to a stranger's infrastructure, it's processed there, and you trust their retention and reuse policy. For sensitive documents that trade is a non-starter. We covered the broader case in why a PDF converter should not upload your files and in our manifesto, which commits to privacy-by-default and free-not-freemium.
And "free" here means free: no watermark, no file-size limit, no conversion cap, no account. You can convert a thousand files at 2 a.m. during finals or a compliance sprint and nothing will nag you to upgrade.
Merging: any mix, one PDF
The "anything" in the name includes combining formats. Drop a JPG scan, a PNG screenshot, an SVG logo, a Markdown note, a CSV table, and a JSON payload into a single conversion and they merge into one PDF in the order you arrange — no file-count limit. This is what turns the tool from a one-off converter into a document-assembly workflow: a board pack (CSV tables plus a cover image), a portfolio (a stack of images), an audit package (an XML extract plus CSV logs), a study packet (Markdown notes plus photographed diagrams).
How it compares to the big online converters
The honest, feature-by-feature comparison against the tools people usually reach for:
| Convert: Anything to PDF | Adobe Acrobat | Smallpdf | iLovePDF | CloudConvert | Zamzar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on-device (no upload) | Yes | Desktop app | No — uploads | No — uploads | No — uploads | No — uploads |
| Watermark on free output | None | N/A (paid) | Free-tier limits | Free-tier limits | Free-tier limits | Free-tier limits |
| File-size limit | None | Depends | Yes (free tier) | Yes (free tier) | Yes (free tier) | Yes (free tier) |
| Conversion cap | None | N/A | Daily task cap | Daily task cap | Credit/minute cap | Daily cap |
| Account required | No | Yes | Often | Often | Yes | Often |
| Merge mixed formats | Yes | Yes | Some | Some | Some | Limited |
Direct .docx/.xlsx | No (workaround) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web page (active tab, incl. logins) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Price | Free | Subscription | Free tier + paid | Free tier + paid | Free tier + paid | Free tier + paid |
The trade is honest and legible. The big cloud converters (CloudConvert, Zamzar) support more input formats than we do — including .docx and .xlsx directly — but every one of them uploads your file and caps the free tier. Adobe Acrobat is a powerful desktop editor but costs a subscription. What Convert: Anything to PDF gives you that none of them do: on-device conversion with no upload, no watermark, no size limit, no cap, no account — plus the ability to snapshot a live, logged-in browser tab. If your files are sensitive, or you just don't want to be metered, that's the whole ballgame. For the head-to-head on the two most-searched competitors, see Smallpdf vs. iLovePDF vs. Convert: Anything to PDF.
Quick decision guide
- Photos, screenshots, logos, scans → drop the images in; merge them if you want one document.
- Notes, docs, logs in TXT / Markdown / HTML → drop the file in; it renders properly, not as raw syntax.
- API data, webhooks, structured extracts (JSON / XML) → drop the file in; formatted-text render, kept local for sensitive payloads.
- Spreadsheet data (CSV) → drop it in; formatted table, auto-landscape when wide.
- Excel
.xlsx→ save as CSV first, then drop it in. - A live web page (even behind a login) → use the active-tab conversion.
- Word / PowerPoint → export to PDF from the source app.
- Encrypted PDF → unlock at the source; it's already a PDF.
And when the file-wrangling is done for the day, our sibling extension CineMan AI drops IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores onto your Netflix, Prime, and Disney+ tiles so movie night starts faster.
Frequently asked questions
What file types can I actually convert to PDF in one click?
Images (JPG, PNG, WebP, SVG, GIF, BMP), text and markup (TXT, HTML, Markdown, JSON, XML), CSV spreadsheets, and the active browser tab — including login-protected pages. All of it converts on-device in one click, with no watermark or upload.
Can I convert a Word .docx or Excel .xlsx file directly?
No. For Word, export to PDF from Word or Google Docs (File → Save As → PDF). For Excel, save the sheet as CSV first (File → Save As → CSV), then drop the CSV into the extension to get a clean, formatted table — landscape automatically if it's wide.
Are my files uploaded when I convert them?
No. Conversion runs entirely on your device — jsPDF builds file PDFs, the Chrome DevTools Protocol renders web pages — with zero network requests during conversion. Your files are never uploaded, which is why sensitive documents are safe to convert here.
Is there a watermark, file-size limit, or conversion cap?
None. No watermark on output, no file-size limit, no cap on how many conversions you run, and no account required. It's free because we fund it, not because we meter you or monetize your data.
Can I merge different file types into one PDF?
Yes. Drop any mix of the supported formats — images, text, Markdown, JSON, XML, CSV — into a single conversion and they merge into one PDF in the order you arrange, with no file-count limit.
Which browsers does it work in?
Any Chromium browser — Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera, or Vivaldi. It does not run on Firefox or Safari.
Bottom line
"Anything to PDF" is an honest promise with honest edges: images, text and markup, CSV, and live web pages convert in one click on your device — no watermark, no limit, no cap, no account, no upload — and you can merge any mix into a single PDF. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and encrypted PDFs aren't direct, but each has a fast, real workaround (export from the source app; save Excel as CSV first). If you want a converter that does the common cases perfectly and keeps every file on your own machine, install Convert: Anything to PDF — free, local, and built to earn the install.