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Use Microsoft Graph’s driveItem content endpoint with format=pdf. Send an authenticated GET request such as /me/drive/items/{item-id}/content?format=pdf, receive a documented 302 Found response, then download the PDF from the temporary URL in the Location header. The redirect URL is preauthenticated, so do not attach your Graph bearer token to the follow-up request.
What the PDF conversion request does
Microsoft Graph treats conversion as a content-download operation. The normal /content route returns the file in its stored format; adding ?format=pdf asks Graph to produce a PDF rendition.
Drive and driveItem resources cover files in OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint document libraries. You can address an item by ID, drive ID, or path, provided the access token can read that location.
Item-ID form
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/drive/items/{item-id}/content?format=pdfDrive and path forms
For a known drive, use a route such as:
GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/drives/{drive-id}/items/{item-id}/content?format=pdfPath addressing is also documented. URL-encode path segments when a filename or folder contains spaces, #, ?, or other reserved characters. Resolve the path to a driveItem first if your application needs a stable ID for later jobs.
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Check support before converting
Microsoft explicitly states that not all files can be converted into all formats. The current PDF source-extension table includes common Office files such as DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, and XLSX, plus formats including HTML, EPUB, ODT, RTF, TIFF, and several email or message formats. Treat that list as authoritative for your tenant and API version; do not promise conversion for an extension that is not listed.
- Confirm the filename extension and the item’s actual content type.
- Check the current Microsoft Graph “Convert to other formats” PDF source table before designing a production workflow.
- Expect a conversion error, rather than a PDF, when the source type is unsupported or the item cannot be read.
Permissions and access context
Use the least-privileged permission that matches how your app runs. Permission approval alone does not grant access to every file: the user, site, drive, item, and (for some SharePoint Embedded scenarios) container still have to be accessible.
| Access model | Least-privileged permission listed for conversion | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Delegated, work or school account | Files.Read |
The signed-in user must be able to read the item. |
| Delegated, personal Microsoft account | Files.Read |
The token and drive must belong to the applicable personal account context. |
| Application permission | Files.ReadWrite.All |
Use only when an app-only workflow is required; configure tenant consent and access restrictions carefully. |
| SharePoint Embedded | FileStorageContainer.Selected plus applicable container-type permissions |
These container requirements are additional to the Graph permission model. |
The v1.0 reference lists availability in the Global, US Government L4, US Government L5 (DoD), and China operated by 21Vianet national clouds. Verify service availability and consent requirements for your deployment.
Handle the redirect correctly
- Send the authenticated Graph request with
format=pdf. - Read the response status and
Locationheader. Microsoft documents302 Foundfor this operation. - Follow the URL promptly and stream the response body to a file or object store.
- Do not send your Graph
Authorizationheader to the follow-up URL. It is preauthenticated. - Check the downloaded bytes and content type before reporting success.
The preauthenticated URL is temporary and normally lasts only a few minutes. Do not queue it for later use; if it expires, repeat the Graph conversion request.
Complete examples
cURL: inspect the redirect, then download
curl -sS -D response.headers -o /dev/null
-H "Authorization: Bearer $GRAPH_TOKEN"
"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/drive/items/$ITEM_ID/content?format=pdf"
PDF_URL=$(awk 'BEGIN{IGNORECASE=1} /^Location:/{sub(/^[^:]*:[[:space:]]*/, ""); gsub(/[rn]/, ""); print}' response.headers)
curl -fL "$PDF_URL" -o converted.pdfKeep the URL on one line when parsing headers. A proxy that rewrites or strips Location can break this flow, so preserve redirects end to end.
Python with requests
import requests
TOKEN = "YOUR_GRAPH_ACCESS_TOKEN"
ITEM_ID = "YOUR_ITEM_ID"
endpoint = f"https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/drive/items/{ITEM_ID}/content"
r = requests.get(
endpoint,
params={"format": "pdf"},
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {TOKEN}"},
allow_redirects=False,
timeout=90,
)
r.raise_for_status()
location = r.headers.get("Location")
if not location:
raise RuntimeError(f"Graph returned {r.status_code} without Location")
pdf = requests.get(location, timeout=90)
pdf.raise_for_status()
with open("converted.pdf", "wb") as f:
f.write(pdf.content)
Node.js (built-in fetch)
const token = process.env.GRAPH_TOKEN;
const itemId = process.env.ITEM_ID;
const endpoint = new URL(`https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/me/drive/items/${itemId}/content`);
endpoint.searchParams.set('format', 'pdf');
const first = await fetch(endpoint, {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
redirect: 'manual'
});
if (first.status !== 302) throw new Error(`Graph returned ${first.status}`);
const location = first.headers.get('location');
if (!location) throw new Error('Missing Location header');
const second = await fetch(location);
if (!second.ok) throw new Error(`Download failed: ${second.status}`);
const bytes = new Uint8Array(await second.arrayBuffer());
await require('node:fs/promises').writeFile('converted.pdf', bytes);
Saving to object storage
Stream the second response directly to durable storage instead of buffering it in memory. Record the source item ID, conversion timestamp, HTTP statuses, and a checksum of the resulting PDF. Never log the bearer token or the complete preauthenticated URL.
Conversion versus downloading the original
| Request | Result | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
/content |
The item’s original bytes | You need the source file unchanged. |
/content?format=pdf |
A PDF rendition delivered through a temporary redirect URL | You need a PDF for viewing, archiving, printing, or downstream processing. |
These operations have different permission guidance in the Graph reference. Recheck the permission table for the exact endpoint you deploy rather than assuming the original-download requirements apply to conversion.
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Addressing files safely
Use IDs for repeatable workflows
IDs avoid ambiguity when users rename files or move them within a drive. Resolve a user-, drive-, site-, or path-based lookup to a driveItem, then persist the ID subject to your retention and access rules.
Use paths for human-selected files
Paths are convenient for one-off requests, but encode each path segment and account for duplicate names. A path that works in OneDrive may not be valid in a SharePoint document library unless you use that library’s drive.
Troubleshooting
401 Unauthorized
The token is missing, expired, issued for the wrong audience, or lacks the required consent. Acquire a Microsoft Graph token and send it only on the first request.
403 Forbidden
The app has not been granted the needed permission, the user cannot read the item, admin consent is incomplete, or a SharePoint Embedded container requirement is missing. Verify both OAuth configuration and item-level access.
404 Not Found
Check the drive and item ID, user context, site, and path encoding. An item can be visible to one user but not to an app-only identity.
400 or conversion-specific failure
Confirm that the source extension appears in Microsoft’s current PDF conversion table. A corrupt file, an unavailable rendition, or an unsupported format can also fail; retain the Graph error body for diagnosis without exposing secrets.
No Location header
Some HTTP clients automatically follow redirects and hide the first response. Disable automatic redirects, or inspect the final response and client redirect history. Proxies and security gateways must allow the Location header.
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Expired download URL
Request a fresh conversion URL and download it immediately. Do not persist the temporary URL in a queue or database.
Downloaded file is not a valid PDF
Check the second response status and Content-Type, write the response bytes without text decoding, and reject HTML error pages saved under a .pdf name.
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Reliability, performance, and cost considerations
- No official per-file latency, success-rate, or fidelity benchmark is established here. Measure your own representative files and tenant conditions.
- Use bounded timeouts, exponential backoff for transient HTTP failures, and an idempotency key in your job record so retries do not create duplicate downstream work.
- Limit concurrent conversions to protect your service and handle Graph throttling according to the response headers and retry guidance.
- For large PDFs, stream the redirected response and enforce a maximum size suitable for your storage policy.
- Cache your own completed PDF only when the source version, permissions, and retention policy permit it; invalidate it when the driveItem changes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can Graph convert a PDF back into an editable Word file?
This article covers requesting a PDF rendition. Reverse conversion depends on a separately supported target format and source extension; check the current Graph conversion tables before implementing it.
Should I use delegated or application authentication?
Use delegated access when a signed-in user is performing the operation; use application access for a service workflow that has its own approved tenant-wide access. The least-privileged permission differs, as shown in the table.
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No. Treat it as a short-lived, preauthenticated download URL for the immediate request and keep it out of logs and durable storage.
The Bottom Line
For a supported driveItem, call /content?format=pdf, handle Graph’s 302 redirect, and download the temporary URL without the bearer token. Validate file support and permissions before shipping the workflow.
