I was sent a Word doc with links on most of the pages. I have attempted to save/export as a PDF with the hope of preserving the clickable links in the PDF version. So far, I have not been able to do so. I’m using the latest version of Word and the latest versions fo both PDF Expert and PDFPen on my MBP. When I open the PDF, the link are not active.
I’m sure this can be done. Can someone tell me what I’m missing in the process?
That happens a lot. I am not able to try it myself right now, but:
There are some tips. According to those tips, hyperlinks should work as long as “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility” is checked when exporting the PDF.
This article explains how to do that on a Mac:
- Go to File > “Save As…” and select PDF from the choices provided. By default this produces a PDF that preserves the document’s accessibility features.
- When saving, be sure the radio button labeled “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility” is selected.
I hope it works. 
As @Christian suggested, I can confirm that when Save As > PDF… is set with this option, the links work as expected.
It’s possible to run into problems if the links are not standard http:// or https:// links, such as links to apps, or frame links.
That worked perfectly. I had not noticed the "best for electronic distribution … " option. Thanks a million!
And then someone may ask why on earth one needs to use Microsoft online service to achieve this, when on windows this is not needed…
I mean, if I make a pdf out of a word file with links to other files in a folder on windows everything works, on Mac the links do not work 
(using the offline option, never tried the online one).
