.docx files
.docx file
Word Document (Open XML)
The standard Word document since Office 2007 — a zip archive of XML underneath.
What opens a .docx file
- Windows
- Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, WPS Office
- macOS
- Microsoft Word, Pages (built in), LibreOffice Writer
- Linux
- LibreOffice Writer, OnlyOffice, AbiWord
- In a browser
- Google Docs, Word for the web, Google Drive viewer
What a .docx file is
DOCX is part of Office Open XML, standardised as ECMA-376 and ISO/IEC 29500. The file is really a zip containing XML parts, which is why a corrupt DOCX can sometimes be recovered by renaming it to .zip and opening it. Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer and Apple Pages all read and write it, with the usual caveat that heavy formatting, tracked changes and macros survive best in Word itself.
Converting it
A .docx file is commonly converted to .pdf, .doc, .odt, .txt, .rtf or .epub. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .docx
- Full name
- Word Document (Open XML)
- Category
- Documents
- MIME type
- application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
- Created by
- Microsoft
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .docx file?
- On Windows use Microsoft Word; on macOS use Microsoft Word; on Linux use LibreOffice Writer. The standard Word document since Office 2007 — a zip archive of XML underneath.
- What is a .docx file?
- Word Document (Open XML). DOCX is part of Office Open XML, standardised as ECMA-376 and ISO/IEC 29500. The file is really a zip containing XML parts, which is why a corrupt DOCX can sometimes be recovered by renaming it to .zip and opening it.
- Can I convert a .docx file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .pdf, .doc, .odt, .txt, .rtf or .epub, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .pdf — Portable Document Format A fixed-layout document that looks identical everywhere — the format for anythin
- .xlsx — Excel Workbook (Open XML) The standard Excel spreadsheet since 2007, with a million-row limit per sheet.
- .pptx — PowerPoint Presentation (Open XML) The standard PowerPoint deck since 2007.
- .txt — Plain Text File Text with no formatting at all — the format that will still open in fifty years.
- .doc — Word Document (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Word format — still readable, but Microsoft would rather you conver
- .xls — Excel Workbook (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Excel format, limited to 65,536 rows.
- .ppt — PowerPoint Presentation (legacy binary) The pre-2007 PowerPoint format.
- .md — Markdown Document Plain text with a light formatting convention — headings with #, bold with **.
- .rtf — Rich Text Format A formatted document format readable by every word processor since 1987.
- .pages — Apple Pages Document Apple's word processor format — Apple devices and iCloud only.
- .odt — OpenDocument Text The open-standard word processor format, native to LibreOffice.
- .eml — Email Message A single saved email, headers and all, in the standard internet message format.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place