What this is for
Sometimes you just need the words out of a Word document, not the document itself. Maybe you are pasting a resume or cover letter into an online application form that only accepts plain text. Maybe an applicant tracking system (ATS) is rejecting your formatted upload and asking for text instead. Maybe someone emailed you a report and you do not have Word installed to open it, or you are on a phone or a locked-down work computer where installing anything is not an option. This tool covers all of those cases: pick a.docx file, and it hands back both a readable, formatted preview and a clean plain text box you can copy or download.
How to use it
- Add your file. Drag a
.docxonto the box or click to browse. Everything happens on your device, nothing is uploaded. - Check the preview. The formatted view shows headings, bold, italics, lists and tables roughly as they appeared in Word.
- Grab the text. The plain text box holds the same content with no formatting. Click Copy text or Download .txt.
- Optional: keep the formatting. Click Download .html to save a standalone HTML copy of the formatted version.
.doc vs .docx, and why it matters
Word has used two very different file formats over the years. Word 97 through Word 2003 saved files as.doc, an older binary format built around Microsoft's OLE2 compound file structure. Word 2007 onward switched to .docx, which is really a ZIP archive full of XML files, a format Microsoft opened up and published, which is why tools outside of Word itself can read it reliably. This converter is built on that modern .docx format. If you upload an old .doc file, the tool checks the file's own signature bytes (not just its extension) and tells you plainly that it is not supported, rather than failing silently or throwing a confusing error. The fix is simple: open the file in Word or Google Docs and use Save As or Download to export a .docx copy, then upload that instead.
What gets carried over, and what does not
The formatted preview keeps the structural parts of a document that HTML understands well: headings, bold and italic text, underlines, bullet and numbered lists, and tables (rebuilt as real HTML tables, row by row). Images in the document are embedded directly into that preview. Page numbers, headers and footers, footnote markers, and fine typographic details like exact fonts, colors, or margins are not reproduced, since those do not translate to plain HTML in a meaningful way. The plain text box is intentionally stripped further still: it contains only the words themselves, in reading order, with no tags, no tables, and no images, which is exactly what you want when you are pasting into a text-only field.
Frequently asked questions
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and converted entirely in your browser. It is never sent to a server, so it never leaves your device.
Does this preserve formatting?
The formatted preview keeps basic structure such as headings, bold, italics and lists. The plain text box is deliberately plain, with no formatting at all, so it drops cleanly into a form field, email or plain-text file.
What about tables and images in the document?
Tables are rebuilt as real HTML tables in the formatted preview. Images are embedded directly in that preview. Neither tables nor images appear in the plain text output, since that box only ever contains readable text.
Why does it say my file is not supported?
This tool reads the modern .docx format only. An older .doc file (Word 97-2003) uses a different, older format that is not supported. Open it in Word or Google Docs and save a copy as .docx, then try again.
Related: Markdown to HTML Converter · Word & Character Counter · Text Cleaner