Convert a Word document to PDF without uploading it

The two documents converted most often are a CV and a proposal, and both are read by someone forming an opinion of you from the file alone. That is a poor moment to introduce an unknown intermediary, particularly when the document names your employer, your rate, or a client you are not supposed to name.

A .docx is a container rather than a page. Depending on how the document was edited it can hold author names, comments and a record of tracked changes alongside the visible text, which is why documents circulated between organisations occasionally reveal an internal argument. Convert, then read the produced PDF as a stranger would, rather than assuming the conversion tidied anything up.

Expect some layout drift. The result depends on what your machine can render, so check page breaks, headers and footers, table edges and anything that was positioned precisely. A stranded heading at the foot of a page is the classic outcome, and it is the sort of thing a reader notices before they notice your argument.

Watch the network panel while you convert, or disconnect first and convert anyway. Then do the second check that people skip: open the produced PDF's document properties and clear them if the file is leaving your organisation, because conversion produces a new document with new metadata.