How to Convert Excel to PDF Using PowerShell

To convert Excel to PDF with PowerShell, open the workbook through Excel’s COM object and call ExportAsFixedFormat with type 0, which means PDF:

$excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$workbook = $excel.Workbooks.Open('C:\Reports\q3-sales-2026.xlsx')
$workbook.ExportAsFixedFormat(0, 'C:\Reports\q3-sales-2026.pdf')
$workbook.Close($false); $excel.Quit()

This needs Excel installed on the PC. Below I wrap it in a function that always closes Excel, export a single sheet, fit wide sheets on one page and convert a folder.

Every example ran in PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 on workbooks I created for the test.

Check that Excel is installed

The COM approach only works where Excel is installed. Its COM class is registered in the registry, so a quick check avoids a confusing error later:

"Excel installed: $(Test-Path -Path 'Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Application')"

Output:

Excel installed: True

Servers usually don’t have Office. Microsoft doesn’t support automating Office from unattended server jobs, so run conversions on a workstation. To check other installed software, see getting a list of installed programs.

A ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel function

Excel runs hidden, with alerts turned off so no dialog can block the script. The finally block quits Excel even when something fails. ReleaseComObject plus a garbage collection lets the hidden EXCEL.EXE process exit right away:

function ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel {
    param([string]$Path, [string]$Destination, [string]$Sheet, [switch]$FitWidth)

    $excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
    $excel.Visible = $false
    $excel.DisplayAlerts = $false
    try {
        $workbook = $excel.Workbooks.Open($Path)
        $target = if ($Sheet) { $workbook.Worksheets.Item($Sheet) } else { $workbook }
        foreach ($ws in @($(if ($Sheet) { $target } else { $workbook.Worksheets }))) {
            $ws.PageSetup.PaperSize = 1                    # xlPaperLetter
            if ($FitWidth) {
                $ws.PageSetup.Orientation    = 2           # xlLandscape
                $ws.PageSetup.Zoom           = $false
                $ws.PageSetup.FitToPagesWide = 1
                $ws.PageSetup.FitToPagesTall = $false
            }
        }
        $target.ExportAsFixedFormat(0, $Destination)       # 0 = xlTypePDF
        $workbook.Close($false)
    }
    finally {
        $excel.Quit()
        [void][System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($excel)
        $ws = $target = $workbook = $excel = $null
        [GC]::Collect(); [GC]::WaitForPendingFinalizers()  # lets the hidden EXCEL.EXE exit
    }
}

I also set Letter paper, so the page layout doesn’t change with the PC’s default printer. A small helper counts the pages in the PDF:

function Get-PdfPageCount ($Path) {
    $text = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllText($Path, [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII)
    [regex]::Matches($text, '/Type\s*/Page[^s]').Count
}

Both are in ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel.ps1, which I dot-source here:

. .\ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel.ps1
$xlsx = (Resolve-Path -Path .\Excel\q3-sales-2026.xlsx).Path
$pdf  = [System.IO.Path]::ChangeExtension($xlsx, '.pdf')
ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel -Path $xlsx -Destination $pdf

"Created: $(Split-Path -Path $pdf -Leaf)"
"Starts:  $(-join [char[]][System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($pdf)[0..4])"
"Pages:   $(Get-PdfPageCount $pdf)"

Output:

Created: q3-sales-2026.pdf
Starts:  %PDF-
Pages:   2

Exporting the workbook includes every sheet, one after another. Always pass full paths to Excel, because it doesn’t know PowerShell’s current folder. See getting the full path of a file.

Export only one sheet

Call ExportAsFixedFormat on a worksheet instead of the workbook. The function does that when you pass -Sheet:

. .\ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel.ps1
$xlsx = (Resolve-Path -Path .\Excel\q3-sales-2026.xlsx).Path
$pdf  = Join-Path -Path (Split-Path -Path $xlsx) -ChildPath 'q3-sales-only.pdf'
ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel -Path $xlsx -Destination $pdf -Sheet 'Q3 Sales'
"Pages with one sheet: $(Get-PdfPageCount $pdf)"

Output:

Pages with one sheet: 1

The Notes sheet is left out. To read the sheet’s data into PowerShell instead, see reading Excel files into an array.

Fit a wide sheet on one page

Wide sheets spill onto extra pages by default. -FitWidth switches to landscape and sets FitToPagesWide to 1, with Zoom off so the fit settings apply:

. .\ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel.ps1
$xlsx = (Resolve-Path -Path .\Excel\inventory-wide.xlsx).Path
$dir  = Split-Path -Path $xlsx
ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel -Path $xlsx -Destination "$dir\inventory-default.pdf"
ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel -Path $xlsx -Destination "$dir\inventory-fit.pdf" -FitWidth

"Pages, default layout:         $(Get-PdfPageCount "$dir\inventory-default.pdf")"
"Pages, landscape 1 page wide:  $(Get-PdfPageCount "$dir\inventory-fit.pdf")"

Output:

Pages, default layout:         2
Pages, landscape 1 page wide:  1

FitToPagesTall is set to $false, so long sheets still flow onto more pages instead of shrinking to tiny text. For saving data as CSV instead, see converting Excel files to CSV.

Convert every workbook in a folder

Loop over the .xlsx files and write a PDF next to each one:

. .\ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel.ps1
Get-ChildItem -Path .\Excel\Batch -Filter *.xlsx | ForEach-Object {
    $pdf = [System.IO.Path]::ChangeExtension($_.FullName, '.pdf')
    ConvertTo-PdfFromExcel -Path $_.FullName -Destination $pdf
    '{0,-19} -> {1}' -f $_.Name, (Split-Path -Path $pdf -Leaf)
}

Output:

budget-austin.xlsx  -> budget-austin.pdf
budget-denver.xlsx  -> budget-denver.pdf

For big folders, open Excel once and loop inside the try block instead of starting it for every file. For more loop patterns, see PowerShell foreach file in a folder.

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