Can an ATS read a PDF, or should you send a Word CV?

PDF or Word for an ATS: the short answer

Send the format the posting asks for. If it names none, a PDF whose text you can select is the safe default: Greenhouse's candidate FAQ recommends uploading a PDF, and Lever parses Word (.docx), PDF, RTF, WordPerfect, HTML and OpenOffice files. The vendors warn about files with no text in them, layouts read in the wrong order and files that are too large, and a Word file with those problems fails too.

What an ATS-friendly PDF is

ATS stands for applicant tracking system: the software an employer uses to receive and search applications, such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or SAP SuccessFactors. An ATS-friendly PDF is one whose text a parser can pull out in reading order: selectable text, one column, contact details in the body of the page. That is a property of the file, not of the program that made it.

Check your own file in the first minute

CitedCV's free CV checker reads the file you are about to send and reports what a parser would trip on. It sits at the top of this page, runs in your browser, needs no account, costs no credits and calls no language model; the signed-in audit runs the same rules and adds saving your rewrites to your facts. Drop in a PDF, DOCX or TXT of up to 5 MB, or paste at least 40 characters.

1. Your browser reads the file: a PDF with pdf.js, a DOCX with mammoth plus a count of text boxes, tables, columns and header text, a TXT as it is.
2. A PDF with no selectable text, or a password-protected one, is refused with the reason.
3. In the checker with no account, the file and its text stay in your browser. The signed-in audit sends only the extracted text and a few layout signals to the server and says nothing is stored.
4. Fixed rules run, so the same text gets the same findings: layout, headings, dates, contact details, length and wording.

What each system's documentation says about file formats

From each vendor's help pages, read on 2026-10-05 and listed under Sources. Each employer configures its own system, so this is what the software supports, not what every form accepts.

The warnings are about images, layout and size

None of these entries tells candidates to avoid PDF, and Greenhouse recommends it. They warn about resumes that are images, layouts read out of order and files too large to process. Greenhouse adds that a non-standard file type, or characters its parsing technology does not recognise, can stop an import.

A failed parse means typing, not a rejection

When Greenhouse cannot parse a resume, the file is only attached to the candidate and the recruiter types the details in; Lever describes the same. Neither page describes a rejection. Greenhouse's candidate FAQ also says you can review and edit parsed information before you submit, so read the fields the form filled in.

When a PDF fails to parse

A PDF fails for reasons that have little to do with being a PDF:

• No text layer. A scan, a CV exported as an image or a file printed to an image is a picture of text. Lever cannot parse image files and suggests converting scans with Adobe Acrobat or Google Drive; Greenhouse lists resumes uploaded as images; Workday advises against images and image-based styles.
• Columns, tables, headers and footers. Greenhouse lists columned layouts and complex resumes with tables, headers and footers.
• Contact details in the header, the footer or a text box. Greenhouse lists all three placements.
• Size. Greenhouse cannot parse files larger than 2.5 MB; its candidate FAQ suggests reducing the size if an upload fails.
• Spaces between the letters, such as a heading typed in spaced-out capitals. Greenhouse lists it.
• Graphics, photos and word art, also on Greenhouse's list.

When a Word file fails to parse

A DOCX is not safe by default; the same Greenhouse list applies to it:

• Text boxes, which float outside the main flow of the document. Greenhouse lists contact details placed in one.
• Tables used for layout. A Word CV built as a table to get two columns is the complex resume with tables that Greenhouse lists.
• Contact details in Word's header or footer.
• Section columns, which are a columned layout.
• Graphics and word art, whatever the file format.

The format is rarely the problem; the layout is

Most causes on Greenhouse's list are about layout and apply to a PDF and a DOCX alike. A single-column CV with contact details in the body reads cleanly in either; a two-column design with a text box sidebar is a risk in either. Switching to Word does not fix a layout problem, and a PDF with text in it does not create one.

Is a Canva, Figma or LaTeX PDF ATS-friendly?

It depends on the file, not the tool; this page makes no claim about how Canva, Figma or LaTeX export a PDF. Two things decide whether a parser can use the result: the text is selectable, and it comes out in the order you read it. Both take two minutes to test.

The two-minute test

1. Open the PDF and try to highlight a line with your cursor. If you cannot, Lever says the document is likely not parseable.
2. Select all (Ctrl+A or Cmd+A), copy, and paste into a plain text editor such as Notepad, or TextEdit in plain text mode.
3. Read from the top: name and contact details first, then the sections in order, each job with its employer, title and dates together.
4. Look for gaps. Missing contact details point to a header or a text box; a sidebar mixed into your experience points to columns.
5. Check the file size. Over 2.5 MB, Greenhouse cannot parse it.

Or let the checker look for you

CitedCV's checker runs the same kind of check with fixed rules. In a PDF it flags pages that are a picture with no text layer, more than one column, and skill bars drawn as shapes with no level in words. In a DOCX it flags more than one column, text boxes, more than half the text in tables, and more than 20 characters in the header or footer. A PDF with no selectable text at all is refused with the reason.

Which format to send: a short decision list

1. The posting or form names a format: send that one, whatever any guide says.
2. No instruction and an upload box: a PDF with selectable text, the format Greenhouse's candidate FAQ recommends.
3. A recruiter or agency asks for a file they can edit: send the DOCX, made from the same single-column layout.
4. The form has a box for pasted text: paste plain text and read it once before you submit.
5. Keep every file under 2.5 MB, the size above which Greenhouse cannot parse.
6. After uploading, read the fields the form filled in and correct them before you submit.

Is DOCX more ATS-friendly than PDF?

Not according to the documentation cited here. Lever lists both, Textkernel accepts both, and Greenhouse recommends PDF. The SAP SuccessFactors parsing page names DOCX, so if you apply through SuccessFactors with both files ready, the DOCX is the one its own page names. Either way, the layout inside the file matters more than the extension; the ATS-friendly CV guide covers that layout in full.

How CitedCV fits

CitedCV builds a CV only from facts you give it, then exports the same CV in three formats. Every template is single column, with standard headings, no tables and nothing in the page header or footer; templates differ in typography and in how the name block looks, not in structure.

1. Bring your facts: upload your current CV as a PDF, DOCX or TXT, or type them in; you confirm each extracted fact.
2. Build: a quick draft costs 6 credits and a full build 10; a new account starts with 6 free credits.
3. Export to PDF, DOCX or plain text (.txt). Exports use no credits.
4. Each PDF and DOCX export is read back by a text extractor and compared with the CV it should carry. In production a low result does not stop the download, so treat it as a measurement, not a guarantee.
5. For forms that take pasted text, the review page offers the plain text in the reading order a parser gets, as a .txt download or a copy button.

Already happy with your CV?

Then you do not need a new one. Run it through the checker, fix what it flags in your own editor and export again. The ATS CV checker page lists every check and how the score is made.

Who this is not for

• You need to know exactly what one employer's system will do with your file. No outside check can show that; upload to that employer's form and read the fields it fills in.
• You want a designed, multi-column CV. Every CitedCV template is single column on purpose; a design tool fits you better, and the two-minute test still applies to what it exports.
• Your only copy is a scan. The checker refuses a PDF with no selectable text; convert it first, for example with Adobe Acrobat or Google Drive as Lever suggests.

Other ways to check, honestly

Competitor details come from CitedCV's comparison pages, which read each tool's public pages on 2026-09-08. Check current terms before you rely on them.

Limits, stated plainly

• The vendor pages were read on 2026-10-05 and change over time; each employer also configures its own system.
• The checker is CitedCV's own rule set. It does not run the parser of Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or Textkernel.
• It accepts files up to 5 MB and does not compare the size with Greenhouse's 2.5 MB limit; check the size yourself.
• It does not check fonts or letter spacing, and a TXT file or pasted text carries no layout signals.
• A file that parses cleanly gets your CV read as written. It does not get you an interview, and no tool can promise one.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Greenhouse Support, MyGreenhouse FAQ for Candidatessupport.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/43418495049499-MyGreenhouse-FAQ-for-Candidates
2. Greenhouse Support, Unsuccessful resume parsesupport.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/200989175-Unsuccessful-resume-parse
3. Greenhouse Support, Why didn't the candidate's resume import correctly?support.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/200721684-Why-didn-t-the-candidate-s-resume-import-correctly
4. Lever Help Center, Understanding resume parsinghelp.lever.co/s/article/Understanding-Resume-Parsing
5. Workday documentation, Concept: Resume parsingdoc.workday.com/admin-guide/en-us/human-capital-management/recruiting/candidates/set-up-prospects-and-candidates/hdc1552497830785.html
6. SAP Help Portal, SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting: Working with resume parsinghelp.sap.com/docs/successfactors-recruiting/setting-up-and-maintaining-sap-successfactors-recruiting/working-with-resume-parsing
7. Textkernel developer documentation, Resume parser specificationsdeveloper.textkernel.com/tx-platform/v10/resume-parser/overview/specs/