Notion imports Word and PDF files by itself. Convert a document to Markdown first when Notion cannot read it well, such as a scanned PDF, a PowerPoint deck or an ebook, or when you want to check and edit the text before it becomes a page. Then import the Markdown files with Settings, Import, Text & Markdown.

The limits below are what Notion's help says as of October 2026. They change, so check them before a large import.

A wooden box of index cards, a stack of pages with a lilac binder clip and a closed notebook with a ribbon bookmark.
Documents become Markdown files that Notion turns into pages.

What Notion imports on its own

FileNotion's importerNotes
Word (DOCX)YesText, headings, lists, images and tables import. Comments, tracked changes, text boxes and SmartArt do not.
PDFYesText PDFs work best. The limit is 5 MB per file on the Free plan and 20 MB on paid plans. Scanned PDFs are not reliably searchable unless OCR is run first.
Markdown (MD)YesThe limit is 5 MB per file on the Free plan and 50 MB on paid plans.
PowerPoint (PPTX)Not listedConvert it first.
Excel (XLSX)As a databaseThrough a CSV file, or inside a ZIP.
EPUBInside a ZIP onlyNot as a single file.
MOBI, FB2 and EMLNot listedConvert them first.

The source is Notion's Import data into Notion.

When to convert first

  • The PDF is a scan. Notion says it needs OCR first. MD Factory recognizes the text on your PC.
  • The file is a PowerPoint deck, an FB2 or MOBI book, or an email, which Notion does not list.
  • The PDF is over your plan's size limit. The Markdown file holds only the text, and the pictures are separate files, so it is usually much smaller.
  • You want to read and fix the headings, tables and numbers in a text editor before they become pages.
  • You keep the same documents in other tools. One Markdown copy also works in Obsidian and in a project folder: see how to import PDF and Word files into Obsidian.

For a plain Word file or a text PDF, Notion's own import is the shorter path.

Convert the documents

  1. Put the documents you want in Notion into one folder.
  2. Open MD Factory, click Add folder and choose it. Conversion starts right away, and each Markdown file is saved next to its original.
  3. Wait until every row shows Completed, Needs review or Failed. Click Needs review to read what to check, and compare that part with the original.

Pictures go into a folder named after the document. The folder ends up like this:

Handbooks/
  Team handbook.docx
  Team handbook.md
  Team handbook_images/
  Roadmap.pptx
  Roadmap.md

Scans are covered in the guide to scanned PDFs, and decks in the PowerPoint guide.

Import the Markdown files into Notion

Imports work on the desktop app and on the web, not on mobile.

A few files

  1. In Notion, open Settings, then Import, then Text & Markdown.
  2. Select the .md files. You can choose several at once.

Each file becomes a page.

A whole folder

  1. Create a new folder and copy into it only the .md files and their _images folders. A ZIP import also reads Word files and the other formats it contains, so the original documents would become duplicate pages.
  2. Zip the folder itself, not the loose files. Notion says this keeps the folder structure. Hidden folders or files can make a ZIP import fail.
  3. In Notion, open Settings, then Import, and upload the ZIP under Convert Zip to pages.

A ZIP can hold up to 5 GB, but Notion warns that more than 10,000 files are likely to fail or import only in part. Import a big collection in smaller batches.

Ebooks

Notion reads an EPUB only inside a ZIP, and does not list MOBI or FB2. MD Factory converts DRM-free EPUB, FB2 and MOBI books to one Markdown file with their chapters, notes and illustrations. The ebooks guide covers the three formats.

Try both routes on one file

For a text PDF, import it directly and also import the Markdown copy. Keep the page whose headings, tables and numbers read better, and use that route for the rest of the folder.

Spreadsheets and databases

Notion turns a CSV file into a database, with a page for each row. A Markdown table stays a table inside a page. For data you want to filter and sort in Notion, import the CSV or XLSX file itself. For a sheet you only want to read, convert it with MD Factory: the Excel guide shows what the tables contain.

Confidential documents

The import sends the text and the pictures to Notion. For a contract, an ID scan or another confidential document, check whether your organization allows it before you import.

Check the pages

  • Open one page and compare its headings, lists and tables with the original. Notion says anchor links and non-standard Markdown extensions do not import.
  • Scroll to a picture. Notion's help explains how images are kept for HTML imports and does not describe it for Markdown, so look at a page with pictures before you import the rest. If a picture is missing, drag the PNG file from the _images folder into the page.
  • For text that came from a scan, compare names, dates and amounts with the original.
  • Notion limits imports to about 120 files every 12 hours, so import a large collection in parts.

When a document changes

Notion's import adds new pages and does not update a page you imported earlier. Delete the old page, or keep both.

In MD Factory, add the changed document again. If you did not edit its Markdown file, the new result replaces it. If you did, the new result is saved under a numbered name, such as Team handbook (2).md, and your edited file stays as it was.