Convert ODT to PDF

How it works

Tap or click the box and pick your ODT file; several files can be selected at once. This tool reads .odt documents saved by LibreOffice or OpenOffice Writer and turns them into a PDF on a device that has no LibreOffice, a phone included: it opens the package inside the browser, takes the text, lists, tables and JPEG/PNG images, and lays them out as a PDF with selectable text. A concrete case: a school report or a cover letter written in LibreOffice on the home computer arrives by email and will not open on your phone. Save the attachment with "Download", tap the box on this page, pick the file from Files (iPhone) or Downloads (Android) and press "Convert to PDF". The PDF can then go to a college application portal, a job board or a tax office upload form; most of these accept PDF and reject ODT. Headings come out larger and bold, centred paragraphs stay centred, lists keep their bullets or numbers, tables become rows with equal columns. The page layout is not identical to Writer: text and images are reflowed onto the paper size you chose with a 0.8 in (2 cm) margin, and headers, footers and footnotes do not reach the PDF. The result line gives the page, paragraph and image count, the paper size and the point size; if an image could not be embedded or a footnote was skipped, it says so too.

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What is ODT?

ODT (OpenDocument Text) is the native document format of LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice Writer, the text member of the OpenDocument family standardised as ISO 26300 (.ods is the spreadsheet, .odp the presentation). The file is a ZIP package: text and tables are in content.xml, page layout and shared styles in styles.xml, pictures in a Pictures folder, and a small mimetype file names the document type. Word can open an .odt, but most phones, email previews and upload portals cannot, which is why the copy you send is usually a PDF. This tool opens the package on your device, reads the body and writes the PDF; a password-protected .odt and a .fodt saved as flat XML cannot be read.

What is PDF?

PDF fixes the look of a document: the position of every letter and image on the page is stored in the file, so it looks the same on whoever's device opens it. In an ODT the layout depends on the program that opens it; a different font or version can shift the lines, and on a phone without Writer the file does not open at all. College application portals, job boards, courts, landlords and government upload forms ask for PDF and do not take ODT. This tool embeds the font in the PDF, so accented letters such as é, ñ or ü show correctly even when the reader's computer lacks that font, and the text can be selected and searched.

What is the difference between ODT and DOCX?

Both are text documents, and both are ZIP packages that look like a single file; the difference is whose XML sits inside the package. DOCX is Microsoft's Office Open XML standard (ISO 29500) and the native format of Word; ODT is the OpenDocument standard (ISO 26300), the native format of LibreOffice and OpenOffice, and the default on many Linux desktops and school computers that ship with LibreOffice. Word can open an .odt and Writer can open a .docx, but saving in the other format can change paragraph styles, numbered list settings, fields and table borders, and phones usually show no preview of an .odt at all. Going straight to PDF causes fewer surprises than changing the format first: the Word to PDF page handles .docx, this page handles .odt. The layout engine is shared, so both formats give a PDF that looks the same.

What is carried over and what is lost?

Carried over: paragraphs and blank lines, Heading 1 to 3 (larger and bold), left, centre and right alignment, bulleted and numbered lists (nested lists are indented), tables (rows with equal columns; the first row, or rows marked as header rows in Writer, on a grey background in bold), line breaks and tabs, and JPEG and PNG images placed in the document (at their Writer size, scaled to fit the page width). A paragraph that is bold throughout stays bold; a few bold words inside a paragraph are not carried over.

Lost: the page layout is not the one in Writer; the text is reflowed onto the paper you chose with a 0.8 in (2 cm) margin, so page breaks may move. Headers, footers and page numbers do not reach the PDF. Footnotes are skipped and the result line says how many. Tracked changes come out as the current text; deleted text and comments are not shown. Table columns are equal in width, and borders and cell colours are not kept; a nested table is flattened into plain text. Images that are not JPEG or PNG (SVG, GIF, drawing objects, charts) cannot be embedded and are counted in the result line. Instead of the fonts in the document, one font (Noto Sans, regular weight) is used; bold is simulated with a second stroke, and italic and coloured text is written plain black. The trade-off: your document's font goes, and in return every accented letter is guaranteed to read on any device.

Which setting for which document?

The paper size follows the page language, which makes it Letter on this page; a cover letter, a school report or a form letter to a US or Canadian office prints correctly on Letter, so leaving "Automatic" is enough. For a recipient in the UK, Europe, Australia or India, or for a university there, choose A4: A4 is 0.24 in narrower and 0.7 in taller than Letter, and a Letter file printed on A4 paper there comes out with uneven margins or shrunk. If you want the two sizes side by side in inches and pixels, follow the paper size link below.

For the font size, 11 pt is the usual document size and enough in most cases. Pick 12 pt for a formal letter, an application or a reader who finds small print hard. For a long essay, a report or a thesis draft, 10 pt cuts the page count; 9 pt is readable in print but needs zooming on a phone screen. Headings come out 5, 3 and 1 pt above the size you chose. A password-protected ODT cannot be opened: in Writer, untick "Save with password" in the "Save As" window and save again. Use the Word to PDF tool for .docx files and the ODS to PDF tool for Calc spreadsheets; to shrink the resulting PDF, feed it to the compress PDF tool.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert an ODT file to PDF on my phone?

Save the .odt to your phone (from email or a chat, use "Download" or "Save to Files"), tap the box on this page, pick the file from Files on an iPhone or from Downloads on Android, and press "Convert to PDF"; the PDF downloads in a few seconds. Nothing has to be installed, and no LibreOffice, OpenOffice or Word is needed. If you do have LibreOffice on a computer, Writer's own File > Export as PDF keeps the page layout exactly; this tool exists for devices without Writer and for a quick send.

Is my document uploaded anywhere?

No. When the page loads, everything it needs (the PDF writer and the font included) is downloaded to your browser; the code that opens the .odt package, reads the body and writes the PDF runs on your device, and neither the file nor its contents is sent to any address. You can test it in airplane mode: with the page open, switch the internet off and the conversion still finishes. For a letter with your Social Security number, your address or medical details, that is the reason to use this tool.

Are my fonts kept?

No. An .odt file stores only the name of a font such as Liberation Serif or Times New Roman, not the letter shapes; that font is not available on this page, so all the text is set in Noto Sans and that font is embedded in the PDF. The gain: whatever fonts the recipient has installed, accented letters such as é, ñ or ü never turn into boxes or question marks. The loss, to be clear: italic, underlined and coloured text comes out plain black; only headings and paragraphs that are bold throughout stay bold. If the font must be preserved exactly, export the PDF from Writer itself.

Can it open a password-protected ODT?

No; the contents of a password-protected .odt package are encrypted, and the tool reports that the file could not be opened. Open the document in LibreOffice Writer with its password, untick "Save with password" in the File > Save As window, save it, then convert it on this page. The resulting PDF has no password; to lock a confidential document before sending it, use the file encryption tool.