can't import PDF using power query

Question

I was able to import last month, now all imports are empty. What happened?

Answer 1

Hi @Shreda Paire,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your detailed sharing and my understanding about Power Query PDF import, the PDF import success heavily depends on how the PDF was created.

Power Query’s PDF connector (which uses the Pdf.Tables function) extracts "any tables found PDF". It works best when the PDF is a native/text PDF in which characters and lines exist as selectable text and vector layout. So, when a report is printed and then uploaded/scanned/emailed (like your situation, "some were uploaded and emailed to me"), it often becomes image based. In that case, there are no text objects for the connector to interpret as a table, and the result of Query import will be empty.

You can confirm that by checking the PDF you want to import by trying selecting text or searching (with Ctrl + F) inside the PDF:

• If you can select text or find words, it's a native PDF and Power Query can import data and tables from it
• If you can only select the whole page and can't search anything, it's an image PDF and Power Query will return empty.

For this situation with the image-based PDF, you will need the original export or doing a OCR:

• Get the original report output: you can ask for the report to be exported directly from the system (e.g., SSRS/Report Builder export) rather than being printed + uploaded. It will help preserves text objects within the PDF that the connector can detect.
• Run OCR: Power Automate provides OCR actions with dedicated OCR connectors (such as “Nutrient PDF OCR”) that designed specifically to convert scanned PDFs into searchable text. Once OCR produces a searchable/text PDF (or extracts to text/Excel), Power Query can work with the resulting structured content for importing data and tables.

For reference and further explanation:

• Power Query PDF connector - Power Query | Microsoft Learn
• Pdf.Tables - PowerQuery M | Microsoft Learn
• Nutrient - PDF OCR - Connectors | Microsoft Learn

Hope this information will help. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post. I will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Looking forward to your response.

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Answer 2

If you are experiencing issues with importing PDF files using Power Query, there could be several reasons for the imports being empty:

1. Changes in the PDF File: If the structure or content of the PDF file has changed since your last successful import, this could affect the ability of Power Query to extract data. Ensure that the PDF still contains the data in a recognizable format.
2. Power Query Limitations: Make sure you are using a supported version of Power Query. Some capabilities might differ across products, and if you are using a version that does not support PDF imports, it could lead to empty results.
3. Authentication Issues: If the PDF file is online and requires authentication, ensure that you have the correct permissions and that your authentication method is still valid.
4. Connection Issues: If the PDF file is hosted online, check your internet connection and ensure that the URL or file path is correct.

If none of these issues seem to apply, you may want to try re-importing the PDF file or checking for updates to Power Query that might address any bugs or issues related to PDF imports.

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References:

• PDF
• Connect to a PDF file from Power Query Desktop