Word Ligatures Disappear After PDF Export: Fix

You have carefully applied ligatures to your text in Word, but after exporting to PDF, they revert to plain characters. This happens because Word and the PDF engine handle advanced typography features differently during conversion. The ligatures are present in the DOCX file but are not always preserved by the default PDF export settings. This article explains why ligatures drop out during PDF export and provides two reliable methods to keep them intact.

Why Ligatures Disappear During PDF Export in Word

Ligatures are special character combinations where two or more letters are joined into a single glyph. Common examples include fi, fl, ffi, ffl, and ct. Word supports OpenType ligatures for fonts that include them, such as Calibri, Cambria, Gabriola, and many professional typefaces.

When you export a Word document to PDF using the default settings, the PDF engine must decide how to represent these ligatures. Two technical factors cause them to disappear:

Font Subsetting and Glyph Selection

The PDF format can store either the original ligature glyphs or the individual characters that make up the ligature. The default Word PDF exporter often chooses the simpler path by decomposing ligatures into their base characters. This approach reduces file size and avoids potential rendering issues on PDF viewers that do not support OpenType ligatures.

PDF/A Compliance and Font Embedding

PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of PDF designed for long-term archiving. It requires all fonts to be fully embedded, including all glyphs used in the document. When you export without PDF/A compliance, Word may subset the font and omit the ligature glyphs if it determines they are not strictly necessary for text representation. Enabling PDF/A compliance forces the exporter to embed the complete font set, which includes the ligature glyphs.

Method 1: Export to PDF Using the PDF/A Option

This method forces Word to embed all font glyphs, including ligatures. It works in Word 2016, Word 2019, Word 2021, and Word for Microsoft 365.

1. Open the document with ligatures
   Make sure the ligatures are applied and visible in the Word document. Select the text and go to Home > Font > Advanced > Ligatures to confirm the setting is not set to None.
2. Go to File > Export
   Click File in the top-left corner, then select Export from the left navigation pane.
3. Click Create PDF/XPS
   In the Export section, click the button labeled Create PDF/XPS Document.
4. Click Options
   In the Publish as PDF or XPS dialog, click the Options button in the lower-right corner.
5. Enable ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)
   In the Options dialog, check the box labeled ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A). Do not change any other settings. Click OK.
6. Publish the PDF
   Choose a save location and file name, then click Publish. Open the resulting PDF and verify that ligatures appear correctly.

Method 2: Save As PDF With PDF/A Compliance

This method uses the Save As dialog instead of Export. The result is identical to Method 1, but some users prefer this workflow.

1. Open the document
   Ensure ligatures are enabled and visible in the document.
2. Go to File > Save As
   Click File, then Save As. Choose a location.
3. Select PDF from the Save as type dropdown
   In the Save As dialog, click the Save as type dropdown and choose PDF.
4. Click More options > Options
   Next to the Save button, click More options, then click the Options button in the lower-right corner of the dialog.
5. Check ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)
   In the Options dialog, check the box for ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A). Click OK.
6. Save the PDF
   Click Save. Open the PDF to confirm ligatures are preserved.

If Ligatures Still Do Not Appear in the PDF

Ligatures Are Not Applied in the Word Document

If you applied ligatures using a third-party font that Word does not fully support, the ligatures may not exist in the DOCX file at all. Check the font in the Word document: select the text, open the Font dialog (Ctrl+D), go to the Advanced tab, and set Ligatures to Standard or Contextual. If the font does not support ligatures, the option will be grayed out. Use a font that includes ligatures such as Calibri, Gabriola, or Palatino Linotype.

PDF Viewer Does Not Render Ligatures

Some PDF viewers, especially older versions or web browser PDF plugins, do not render OpenType ligatures even when the font is embedded. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or in a dedicated PDF application. To verify the font is embedded, open the PDF, click File > Properties, go to the Fonts tab, and check that the font name appears with (Embedded Subset) or (Embedded) next to it.

Ligatures Break After Editing the PDF

If you edit the PDF after export using a PDF editor, the editor may decompose ligatures into individual characters. Always keep the original Word document as the master file. Make all text changes in Word and export again.

Word Export vs Word Save As: PDF Ligature Behavior

Item	File > Export	File > Save As (PDF)
Default ligature behavior	Ligatures may be lost	Ligatures may be lost
PDF/A option available	Yes	Yes
Ligature preservation with PDF/A	Preserved	Preserved
File size impact	Larger due to full font embedding	Larger due to full font embedding
Recommended use case	One-time export with settings	Repeated exports from same document

You can now export Word documents to PDF without losing ligatures by enabling the PDF/A compliance option. For future exports, use either File > Export or File > Save As and always check the ISO 19005-1 compliant box before publishing. For documents that require ligatures in print or archival PDFs, consider also testing the output in Adobe Acrobat Reader to confirm the glyphs render correctly. As an advanced tip, you can create a custom Quick Access Toolbar button for the PDF/A export by adding the Publish as PDF or XPS command to the toolbar for one-click ligature-safe exports.