# Exporting your resume

> PDF, DOCX or plain text - which to send where, and why what you see in the preview is exactly what comes out.

Source: https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/exporting-your-resume
Last verified: 2026-09-03

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Three formats, and the right one depends entirely on who is receiving it.

| Format         | Send it when                                                                   |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **PDF**        | Almost always. It looks the same everywhere and cannot be accidentally edited. |
| **DOCX**       | A recruiter or agency asks for Word, which some genuinely require.             |
| **Plain text** | Pasting into a form field that mangles formatting.                             |

## The preview is not an approximation

What you see in the builder is drawn from the same model the exporter uses, and it draws real pages

- not a scaled-down impression of them.

> **Note** - So the page breaks you see are the page breaks you get
>
> There is no separate "export view" to check afterwards and no surprise on the second page. If it
> looks right in the preview, the PDF is right - which is why [making it fit](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/making-it-fit) can be trusted while you are
> still editing.

## PDF

The default, and correct for nearly every application. The text is real text - selectable, and
extractable by a parser - not an image of text, which is what breaks [the ATS check](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/the-ats-check) most often.

## DOCX

Send it when asked. Two things to expect:

- **Word may re-flow it slightly.** A different machine with different fonts can shift a line.
- **It is editable**, and agencies sometimes do edit it - stripping your contact details before
  passing it to a client. That is normal in that market and a reason to keep your own copy.

Check the DOCX before sending it if the layout matters.

## Plain text

No formatting at all. Its use is narrow but real: application forms with a "paste your resume" box
that destroy anything richer.

## The cover letter exports separately

If your document has a Letter section, it is exported as its own file rather than appended to the
resume - see [sections and entries](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/sections-and-entries).

## Naming the file

The filename is the first thing a recruiter sees in a folder of two hundred.

`Priya-Sharma-Backend-Engineer.pdf` beats `resume_final_v3.pdf`. Include your name - a file called
`resume.pdf` is unfindable the moment it is downloaded.

## Keep what you sent

Export it and keep the file. That version is what you will be interviewed against; the resume in the
builder will have moved on.

- [The ATS check](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/the-ats-check) - Confirming the export parses.

- [Using your resume elsewhere](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/using-your-resume-elsewhere) - Reusing it across Revquix.