A Microsoft 365 free trial gives you a month of desktop Excel, including the From PDF import on Windows. Install Excel, load the statement through Data, Get Data, save the result as a normal workbook, then cancel at account.microsoft.com/services before day 30. The saved file stays yours. Only editing in the desktop apps stops.
Which Microsoft 365 free trial gives you the Excel PDF import?
The Microsoft 365 Personal and Family trials both include desktop Excel, and desktop Excel for Windows is where the PDF import lives. Microsoft's comparison of Microsoft 365 plans offers each of them, plus Premium, with a free month. Personal is the simplest choice for one person and one statement.
The import is a Power Query connector, a piece of Excel's built-in data import tool. Microsoft's table of Power Query data sources by Excel version marks the PDF connector for the Microsoft 365 home plans on Windows. The same table lists no PDF source for Excel on a Mac, so a Mac user gains little from the trial for this job.
Desktop app or browser?
You need the desktop app. The trial also opens Excel in a browser, but the browser version reads PDFs only from work or school SharePoint sites, per that same version table. Download and install the Windows app from your account page once the trial starts.
Check what you have before you start a trial
You may already have an Excel that can do this, such as Microsoft 365 through a family plan. A one-time copy bought years ago has Get Data, but Microsoft does not list the PDF connector for those versions. Finding out which version of Excel you have takes a minute and might save you the sign-up.
Microsoft 365 trial steps, from sign-up to a loaded statement
The Microsoft 365 trial route takes about eight steps: sign up, install Excel, open the import, choose the statement table, load it, check it, save it and cancel. Plan for an hour on the first try, most of it spent on install and on tidying the rows. The steps below assume a text PDF from online banking.
- Sign up. Start the Personal trial from Microsoft's plan page with your Microsoft account. Note the date.
- Install desktop Excel. From your account page, install the Office apps on the Windows PC where the statement is saved.
- Open the import. In a blank workbook, choose Data, Get Data, From File, From PDF, and pick the statement.
- Pick the transaction table. The Navigator window lists tables and pages it found. Click each one and look at the preview. Statements often split into one table per page.
- Load it. Choose Load for a single table, or Transform Data if you need to combine pages and drop header rows first.
- Check it. Compare the first and last transaction against the PDF, then add up the amounts and check them against the totals printed on the statement.
- Save a plain copy. Save as .xlsx, and also as .csv if you plan to use it in another app. A CSV, or comma-separated values file, is plain text that any spreadsheet opens.
- Cancel. Follow the next section the same day, while you remember.
If the import finds nothing
A blank Navigator, or tables full of logo text, means the PDF has no readable text or a very unusual layout. Try another statement from the same bank to rule out a bad download. If that fails too, the trial will not help with this file. The tools you already have that can convert a PDF to Excel ranks the other free routes.
Converting more than one statement in the month
Once the first statement works, the rest go faster, because the steps are the same each time. If you have a year of statements from one bank, do them all inside the trial month. Each one takes minutes once you know where the transaction table appears in the Navigator.
Setting the Microsoft 365 trial cancel date
Set your Microsoft 365 trial cancel date a few days before the 30th day after sign-up. Microsoft's page on cancelling a Microsoft 365 free trial says you can cancel within 30 days of signing up and you will not be charged. A margin covers time zones and slow sign-ins.
Here is an example calendar for someone who signs up on 16 October 2026. Use your own date.
| Event | Example date | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Trial sign-up | 16 October 2026 | Day 1 of the 30 days |
| Statement converted and saved | 16 to 20 October | Do the work in the first week |
| Reminder to cancel | 9 November 2026 | A calendar alert with the cancel link |
| Cancel by | 12 November 2026 | Two days of margin before day 30 |
| Day 30 | 14 November 2026 | Last safe day per Microsoft's 30-day rule |
How to cancel
- Sign in at account.microsoft.com/services with the account you used for the trial.
- Find the Microsoft 365 subscription and look for a Cancel link or an Expires on date.
- Select Cancel and follow the prompts.
Microsoft's page notes one more case. If the subscription shows Paid with None, or offers a link to turn on recurring billing, there is no payment set up, and the trial simply ends on its expiry date. Nothing needs cancelling, though it does no harm to check the page.
Cancel early, not on the last day
You can cancel the same day you finish the statement. Microsoft's page says Office keeps working for a short time after a trial ends, then moves to view-only. If you cancel early, save your workbook first, so the file is safe before editing stops.
What do you keep after the Microsoft 365 trial ends?
You keep every file you saved, including the converted statement workbook, because those files sit on your own disk or in your OneDrive. What ends is editing in the desktop apps. Microsoft's cancellation page says Office eventually runs in View Only mode with Unlicensed Product notices, where you can open and print documents but not edit them.
That has two practical effects for a statement converted during the trial:
- The .xlsx opens but cannot be changed in desktop Excel. You can still read and print it.
- The .csv is unaffected. A CSV is plain text. Any spreadsheet, budgeting app or accounting system opens it with no Microsoft licence.
Editing after the trial for free
Microsoft's cancellation page points to the free web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for editing after a trial. Upload the saved workbook and keep working on it in a browser. The web version sorts, filters and totals the statement rows. It just cannot repeat the PDF import on a file from your computer.
Extra storage and shared users
The trial also adds OneDrive storage, and that extra space goes when the trial does. Move the statement out of OneDrive before you cancel if you were close to the free storage limit. A copy on your own disk does not depend on any plan.
Microsoft 365 trial edge cases: scans, a second trial and a work account
The Microsoft 365 trial route breaks in a few predictable places: a scanned statement, an account that already used its trial, a Mac, and the temptation to use a work copy instead. Each one is cheaper to spot before you sign up than after. Here is how to handle them.
A scanned statement
A scan is a picture of a page. The PDF import reads text, not pictures, so it returns nothing useful from a scan no matter which plan you try. Before you start a trial, open the PDF and try to select one word. If you cannot, the trial will not convert it.
A second trial on the same account
If Microsoft's sign-up page shows you a paid plan instead of a free month, the trial is not on offer for your account. Do not open new accounts to get around that. Use one of the other routes in this post.
Using Office from work instead
A work laptop may already have desktop Excel with the PDF import. That does not make it yours for personal paperwork. Employer licences come with terms, and a personal bank statement on a managed laptop can be visible to the IT team. Using work Microsoft Office for personal use covers what to check first.
A Mac
Microsoft's version table has no PDF source for Excel on a Mac. A Mac user can still try the Word route, which opens a PDF as an editable document, but the clean import this post describes is a Windows feature.
When a Microsoft 365 trial is too much effort for one statement
A Microsoft 365 trial is too much effort when the statement is short, already arrives as CSV, or is a scan. Signing up, installing the desktop apps and setting a reminder can take longer than the conversion itself. A trial pays off when you have a stack of text PDFs from one bank.
Here are the shortcuts worth trying first:
- Your bank's CSV export. Many banks offer transaction downloads as CSV next to the PDF. If yours does, you need no converter at all.
- A free online converter for a short file. Free sites often cap pages or files per day. How page limits on free PDF converters work explains where a two-page statement fits and a twenty-page one does not.
- A per-statement converter. CheapBankConvert charges once per document, at early prices of $2.99 for up to 10 pages, and its first 2 pages preview free. It is getting ready to open, so you join a list for now.
The honest comparison
The trial costs $0 and an hour or two of setup, plus the risk of missing the cancel date. A one-off conversion costs a few dollars and no setup. If you have twelve statements and a free afternoon, the trial wins. If you have one statement and a deadline tomorrow, it probably does not.