How Do You Convert ODT to PDF?
You convert ODT to PDF by adding the file to QuickCatPDF's ODT to PDF converter and clicking Convert to PDF. The text document from LibreOffice or OpenOffice Writer becomes a PDF with its styles, tables, images and page numbers in place, and its headings become PDF bookmarks.
It's free, with no sign-up and no watermark, and nothing to install.
How to Convert an ODT File With QuickCatPDF
Converting an ODT document takes four steps.
- Click Select ODT files or drop your documents on the page.
- Choose the Paper size, and keep Bookmarks from headings ticked if you want them.
- For several files, choose Separate PDFs or One combined PDF.
- Click Convert to PDF, then download each PDF, the ZIP or the combined PDF.
Why Use QuickCatPDF to Convert ODT Files?
QuickCatPDF converts ODT files with LibreOffice Writer on our own server, the same program many ODT files are written in. Because ODT is Writer's native format, layouts come through as you designed them: styles, frames, footnotes, tables of contents and section breaks.
The PDF is tagged for accessibility and its text stays searchable. In our test, a four-page ODT report converted in about 2 seconds, with each heading as a bookmark. Files are deleted when conversion ends, and the PDF right after your browser downloads it.
What Is an ODT File?
An ODT file is a text document in the OpenDocument Format, the open standard used by LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice Writer and several other word processors. It's a ZIP package holding the text as XML plus any pictures, which keeps files small.
Microsoft Word can open ODT files too, but layouts sometimes shift because Word interprets some OpenDocument features differently. Converting to PDF avoids that: everyone sees the document as LibreOffice laid it out. The template format OTT and the older StarOffice SXW convert the same way.
Should You Choose A4 or Letter?
Choose Keep the document's size unless the reader needs a specific paper. Picking A4 or Letter changes every page to that size and lets the text reflow, which is useful when a document written for European A4 is going to the United States, or the other way round.
Tick PDF/A for long-term archiving when an office or court asks for PDF/A, and choose Smaller file under Image quality to shrink photo-heavy documents.
Frequently asked questions
Is ODT to PDF free?
Yes, free with no sign-up and no watermark, for up to 10 files of 50 MB each at once.
Do I need LibreOffice installed?
No, the conversion runs on our server; you only need a browser on any device.
Are my ODT files uploaded?
Yes, they're converted on our own server over HTTPS and deleted automatically, at the latest within 1 hour. People never open them.
Can I convert a password-protected ODT?
Not yet; the tool tells you when a file is protected. Open it in LibreOffice, use File, Save As with Save with password unticked, and try again.
What about ODS and ODP files?
Spreadsheets convert with ODS to PDF and presentations with ODP to PDF. For all OpenDocument types at once, use OpenOffice to PDF; Word files go to Word to PDF.
Last updated: