For Moodle instructors

PDF to Moodle Quiz Converter for Instructors

Upload the reading you assigned, a textbook chapter, a journal article or a scanned handout. PDFQuiz writes the questions with correct answers and feedback, and gives you a GIFT file that drops straight into your Moodle question bank.

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Upload your PDF and generate the questions

Click to upload or drag and drop

PDF, DOCX, PPTX, TXT, JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, ODP, ODT, BMP, or TIFF

Up to 10 files at once, 50 MB each, merged into one quiz within the demo page limit

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The short answer

Moodle cannot turn a PDF into a quiz, it only imports question files. PDFQuiz reads the PDF, writes the questions with feedback, and exports them as a GIFT text file. In Moodle you open the course question bank, choose Import, pick GIFT format, and the questions are ready to add to a Quiz activity.

PDFQuiz is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Moodle. The Moodle export is included in the Pro and Elite plans, see the pricing page.

How to convert a PDF to a Moodle quiz

Four steps from the file on your desktop to questions in your course. You never retype a question.

1

Upload the PDF

Add up to 10 files, up to 50 MB each. For a scan, switch on OCR first so the pages are read as text.
2

Pick the question types

Choose single choice, multiple answer, true or false, fill in the blank, matching or open ended, and set the number of questions.
3

Review and edit

Reword a stem, swap a weak distractor, delete what you would not grade. Each explanation becomes Moodle feedback.
4

Import to Moodle

Download Moodle (GIFT), then in the course question bank choose Import, GIFT format, upload, Import, Continue.

The import does not create a quiz, it fills the question bank. That is a feature. Open or create a Quiz activity, choose Questions, then Add, then from question bank, and tick what you want. Or add a random question from the category the import created, so each student draws a different mix.

A long PDF is better tested a chapter at a time. Generate one set per chapter and import each into its own category, and you get weekly checks that match the reading schedule instead of one sprawling exam.

Moodle expects GIFT files saved as UTF-8 text. The export is written that way, and the characters GIFT treats as syntax are escaped, so a colon or an equals sign in a question stem does not break the import.

What lands in Moodle

All six question types PDFQuiz writes travel in the GIFT file, which is more than the multiple choice only formats cover.

In PDFQuiz	In Moodle
Single choice, four options	Multiple choice, one answer
Multiple answer, two or three right	Multiple choice, several answers with partial credit
True or false	Multiple choice with true and false
Fill in the blank	Short answer
Matching pairs	Matching
Open ended	Essay
Explanation	Feedback shown with the question

Want the full syntax walkthrough, escaping rules and import troubleshooting? The GIFT format converter page covers the file itself, and the Moodle quiz generator page covers building quizzes from Word and slides too.

Ways to get PDF content into a Moodle quiz

The deciding question is whether the questions exist yet. A PDF full of finished questions needs a formatter. A PDF of reading material needs something that writes the questions.

Route	What you start with	Who writes the questions	Best when
Moodle question editor by hand	The PDF open in another window	You	A handful of questions
GIFT or Aiken formatter	Questions already typed in a strict layout	You	A finished question bank only needs moving into Moodle
General AI chat plus hand formatting	Text pasted in pieces, output cleaned up by you	The chatbot, checked by you	The quiz is short and you like to tinker
PDFQuiz	The PDF itself, digital or scanned, plus slides or Word files in the same upload	Generated from the document, reviewed and edited by you	The questions do not exist yet or you need a fresh set each term

If forty finished questions with marked answers already live in a file, a formatter is the cheaper route and you should use one. PDFQuiz earns its price when a new textbook edition arrives, a course is rebuilt for online delivery, or a publisher sends a PDF with no test bank attached.

Reading the content instead of parsing a layout also means the PDF does not have to be clean. Multi column journal pages, headers, footers and figure captions are all fine.

6 types

Every question type PDFQuiz writes exports to GIFT

Partial credit

Multiple answer questions carry weighted scoring

10 files

PDF, Word or slides in one upload, up to 50 MB each

Who uses a PDF to Moodle quiz converter

College and community college faculty

A reading quiz per chapter, generated from the PDF already posted in the course and imported into every section.

Instructional designers

Module checks built from the subject expert's PDFs, without a round of interviews to collect questions.

K-12 and adult education teachers

Unit checks from a scanned workbook chapter, with a second version for makeup exams.

Corporate training teams on Moodle

Policy and compliance quizzes written from the procedure PDF and regenerated whenever the document is revised.

The same quiz in other formats

Departments that run Moodle for one program and Canvas for another can download the same quiz as a QTI zip. The PDF to Canvas quiz converter shows that route, and the QTI converter page compares the two package versions. A paper test comes out as a PDF or Word file with a separate answer key.

PDF to Moodle quiz questions instructors ask

How do I convert a PDF to a Moodle quiz?

Upload the PDF to PDFQuiz, choose the question types and generate the set. Review the questions, then pick Moodle (GIFT) from the download menu. In Moodle open the course question bank, choose Import, select GIFT format and upload the file. Then create a Quiz activity and add the imported questions from the bank.

Can Moodle create a quiz from a PDF by itself?

No. Moodle can host a PDF as a file or resource, but it cannot read questions out of one. Quiz questions have to be created in the editor or imported from a file such as GIFT. This page does the missing step, writing the questions from the PDF and packaging them as a GIFT file.

Does a scanned PDF work?

Yes, with OCR switched on before you generate. The scanned pages are read as text, the questions are written from that text, and the GIFT file is built the same way as for a digital PDF. Straight pages and dark print give the cleanest result.

Which question types reach Moodle?

All six that PDFQuiz writes. Single choice and true or false become multiple choice, multiple answer carries partial credit weights, fill in the blank becomes short answer, matching stays matching and open ended becomes an essay. Explanations arrive as feedback.

How do I add imported questions to a Moodle quiz?

After the import, open the Quiz activity, choose Questions, then Add, then from question bank. Tick the questions you want or add a random question from the category the import created. Save, set the time limit and attempts, and the quiz is ready for students.

Can I generate a fresh set for each section or term?

Yes. Generate a second set from the same PDF, export it and import it into its own question bank category. A quiz can then draw random questions from several categories, so sections and makeup exams do not see the same items.

What does the Moodle export cost?

The GIFT export is part of the Pro and Elite plans, and you can try the question generator before choosing a plan. The pricing page lists current plans and limits.

Working from a Word file instead? The Word to quiz converter does the same for .docx handouts, and PDF to quiz covers quizzes for students rather than a course platform.

Related converters and tools

Moodle Quiz Generator

Quizzes for Moodle from PDF, Word and slides.

GIFT Format Converter

The GIFT file, syntax and import fixes.

PDF to Canvas Quiz

The same PDF as a Canvas QTI zip.

QTI Converter

QTI 1.2 and 2.1 packages compared.

Scanned PDF to Quiz

OCR for photocopied and scanned pages.

PDF to Quiz

Questions written from any PDF.

Turn this week's reading PDF into a Moodle quiz

Upload the PDF, review the questions and their feedback, and import one GIFT file instead of building the quiz question by question.

Upload your PDF