Should you submit your resume as a PDF or as a Word file? The sourced short answer for 2026: no major ATS vendor tells candidates to prefer one over the other. The only vendor-level caution against PDF comes from Textkernel — a company that sells parsing engines to ATS products, not an ATS itself — and it is about conversion problems in problem files, not a ban. Career centres split in both directions. Exactly two rules survive every source we found: never send an image-only or scanned PDF, and follow whatever format the job ad or portal explicitly requests. Everything below is what each named source actually says, with the disagreement left in. The full format checklist is in our ATS-friendly resume format guide.
What the ATS vendors accept
Start with the systems that publish lists, because they settle the compatibility question. Greenhouse accepts .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt for resumes and cover letters (Greenhouse). Lever parses Word (including .docx), PDF, RTF, WordPerfect, HTML, MS Office HTML and ODF, and its uploader takes .doc, .docx, .pdf and .txt (Lever). Oracle documents Taleo's attachment formats as administrator-configurable — .pdf, .doc/.docx and more, down to "Any File Format" (Oracle Taleo docs). Workday's parsing documentation names no file formats at all, saying only that results "can vary based on resume format and order of words" (Workday doc). For file types together with each vendor's size limits, see our vendor-by-vendor table.
The one vendor caution against PDF — in context
Textkernel supplies the parsing engines embedded in many ATS products, and its developer documentation is blunt about where parsing fails: "The vast majority of problems in parsing are not from processing the plain text, but from conversion to plain text." On PDF specifically: "If you want to minimize conversion problems, don't use PDF documents." — and "PDF is a broken standard that often hides issues with the underlying text." (Textkernel)
Context matters twice over. First, Textkernel adds that most "did not parse correctly" reports trace back to corrupt PDFs — a statement about broken files, not about the format in general. Second, parser vendors' documentation describes their own engines, not any one ATS you might apply through (Textkernel). A clean, text-based PDF exported from a normal word processor is not the failure case Textkernel is describing; a re-saved, round-tripped or damaged file is.
Career centres and employers split
Once you leave vendor documentation, the advice divides cleanly. On the Word side: George Mason University's career office says "Upload .docx unless a PDF is requested" because it "Imports more accurately" (GMU), and Roche's employer-side parsing FAQ states ".docx format is the most accurately parsed by ATSs" (Roche careers). On the PDF side: Santa Clara University's career centre says "Prioritize PDF formats" because most systems "can and prefer PDF" (see the Sources list — that page's address is plain http, so we print it rather than link it), and Utah Valley University recommends .docx or text-based PDF "with PDF preferred" (UVU).
| Source | Preference | What it says | Source type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse | Either | Accepts .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt — no preference stated | Official (ATS vendor) |
| Lever | Either | Parses both Word and PDF; the uploader takes .doc, .docx, .pdf and .txt | Official (ATS vendor) |
| Workday | Not stated | Names no file formats; results "can vary based on resume format and order of words" | Official (ATS vendor) |
| Textkernel | Avoid PDF | "If you want to minimize conversion problems, don't use PDF documents" — about corrupt files in its own engine | Official (parser vendor) |
| GMU career office | .docx | "Upload .docx unless a PDF is requested" — "Imports more accurately" | Practitioner (career centre) |
| Roche careers FAQ | .docx | ".docx format is the most accurately parsed by ATSs" | Practitioner (employer FAQ) |
| Santa Clara career centre | "Prioritize PDF formats" — most systems "can and prefer PDF" | Practitioner (career centre) | |
| UVU career services | .docx or text-based PDF, "with PDF preferred"; also claims PDFs "become corrupted with repeated use" — no source found for that claim | Practitioner (career centre) | |
| Tahatū (NZ Government) | "send it in a PDF format unless the employer asks for a Word document" | Official (government) | |
| SEEK NZ | "Save your resumé as a PDF" | Practitioner (job board) | |
| SEEK AU | As requested | Use the format the ad or portal requests; otherwise "PDF can help preserve the layout" | Practitioner (job board) |
One row needs its flag repeated in prose: UVU's handout also claims PDFs "become corrupted with repeated use" (UVU). We found no source for that claim anywhere — no vendor document, no study — so treat it as an unsourced assertion rather than a fact, whichever format it pushes you toward.
What every source agrees on
Strip away the disagreement and two rules hold everywhere. First, never send an image-only or scanned PDF: Lever's own test is "try highlighting text in the document with your cursor. If you cannot highlight text, the document is likely not parseable" (Lever), and Textkernel documents that image-only documents cannot be parsed without OCR (Textkernel). Second, follow the requested format: if the ad or portal asks for Word, send Word; SEEK AU's fallback — "PDF can help preserve the layout" — applies only when nothing is specified (SEEK AU). Beyond those two, the honest summary is that no vendor expresses a preference and the advisers genuinely disagree.
A parsing risk is not a rejection
Whatever you pick, be precise about the stakes. A corrupt PDF or a badly exported .docx is a documented parse problem — scrambled fields, missing keywords, contact details lost — but no vendor we found documents rejecting a candidate over file format. The automatic rejections that are documented come from knockout and disqualification questions; we trace that whole distinction, and the folklore around it, in do ATS reject 75% of resumes?. Format choices move how well your file parses, not whether the system bins it.
How to check your file yourself
You do not need to trust any of the advice above — test your own file. Run Lever's highlight test: open the PDF, try to select the text with your cursor; if you cannot, it is an image and no parser will read it (Lever). Then run the file through the free resume checker to see exactly what a parser extracts, and paste in the target job description with the matcher to confirm the extracted text carries the keywords you need. New Zealand guidance adds a market-specific default — Tahatū says "send it in a PDF format unless the employer asks for a Word document" and SEEK NZ says "Save your resumé as a PDF"; the sourced NZ/AU specifics are collected in NZ and Australian CV format.
What to do
- Follow the requested format when the ad or portal states one — the only rule every source supports
- Otherwise pick either a text-based PDF or .docx from a mainstream word processor; both are accepted and parsed by every vendor that documents file types
- Never send an image-only or scanned PDF — the one universal, documented failure
- Keep the file clean: export once, do not re-save through multiple tools, since Textkernel's caution is about corrupt and damaged conversions
- Verify with the highlight test and the resume checker before you submit
Sources
- Greenhouse — Supported file types for resumes and cover letters
- Lever — Understanding resume parsing
- Oracle Taleo — attachment formats
- Workday — candidate resume parsing guidance
- Textkernel — resume parser getting started
- GMU — Make applications tech-friendly (PDF)
- Roche careers — Resume parsing FAQ
- Santa Clara University career centre — common ATS resume formatting mistakes (the page's address is plain http, so it is printed, not linked): http://www.scu.edu/careercenter/toolkit/job-scan-common-ats-resume-formatting-mistakes/
- UVU — Creating ATS-friendly resumes (PDF)
- Tahatū (NZ Tertiary Education Commission) — How to write a CV
- SEEK NZ — How to make a resume
- SEEK AU — Resume & CV advice