How do I open a .dotx file?

On Windows use Microsoft Word; on macOS use Microsoft Word; on Linux use LibreOffice Writer. A Word template — double-clicking it creates a new document rather than editing the original.

Can I convert a .dotx file?

Yes. It is usually converted to .docx, .pdf, .ott or .dotm, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.

.dotx files

.dotx file

Word Template (Open XML)

A Word template — double-clicking it creates a new document rather than editing the original.

What opens a .dotx file

Windows: Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer
macOS: Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, Pages (built in)
Linux: LibreOffice Writer, OnlyOffice

What a .dotx file is

DOTX holds the styles, layout and boilerplate that new documents are built from. Opening one normally spawns an untitled copy, which is what people mean when they say the file "will not save"; to edit the template itself, open it explicitly from within Word. The macro-enabled equivalent is .dotm, and the legacy binary one is .dot.

Converting it

A .dotx file is commonly converted to .docx, .pdf, .ott or .dotm. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.

Details

Extension: .dotx
Full name: Word Template (Open XML)
Category: Documents
MIME type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
Created by: Microsoft
Format: Binary

Common questions

How do I open a .dotx file?: On Windows use Microsoft Word; on macOS use Microsoft Word; on Linux use LibreOffice Writer. A Word template — double-clicking it creates a new document rather than editing the original.
What is a .dotx file?: Word Template (Open XML). DOTX holds the styles, layout and boilerplate that new documents are built from. Opening one normally spawns an untitled copy, which is what people mean when they say the file "will not save"; to edit the template itself, open it explicitly from within Word.
Can I convert a .dotx file?: Yes. It is usually converted to .docx, .pdf, .ott or .dotm, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.

.pdf — Portable Document Format A fixed-layout document that looks identical everywhere — the format for anythin
.docx — Word Document (Open XML) The standard Word document since Office 2007 — a zip archive of XML underneath.
.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.

Sources

Media Types Registry — IANA
Official vendor product documentation — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked