How to Open DOCX Files Without Microsoft Word

To open a .docx file without Microsoft Word, drop it into the free Word Viewer. The document appears page by page with its fonts, tables, images, headers and footers. You can zoom, search for words, print it, and see the page and word count. Nothing is uploaded, because the file is opened inside your browser.

When is a Word viewer handy?

• Someone sent a .docx and you don't have Office on this computer or phone
• You're on a Chromebook, a shared computer or a work laptop without Word
• You want to check a document quickly without waiting for a big app to open
• You'd rather not open an unknown attachment in a full Office program

How do I view a Word document step by step?

1. Open the Word Viewer.
2. Drop the .docx onto the box, or click to choose it. Files up to 50 MB work.
3. Read it page by page. The top bar shows the number of pages, words and the file size.
4. Use Fit width, or the + and − buttons, to zoom. On phones, Fit width scales the page to your screen.
5. Type in Find in document to highlight words, and jump between matches with the arrows.
6. Press Print to print only the document, not the website around it.
7. Press Open another to view a different file.

What does the viewer show correctly?

It renders the document's own layout: page breaks, fonts and sizes, bold and italics, headings, bullet and numbered lists, tables, images, headers, footers and footnotes. Very complex layouts, such as heavy use of text boxes or unusual fonts you don't have installed, may look slightly different from Word.

How do I turn the document into a PDF?

Use Word to PDF. It keeps headings, lists, tables and images, and has a Print / Save as PDF option for documents in non-Latin scripts. Our guide how to convert Word to PDF explains which option to choose.

How do I get the text into another app?

• Select text in the viewer and copy it as you would on any web page.
• If the copied text brings odd spacing, paste it into Remove Formatting to clean it.
• To count words for an assignment or article, the viewer shows the total; for more detail use the Word Counter.

How do I open a .docx on my phone?

Save the attachment from your email or WhatsApp to your phone first. Then open the Word Viewer in your browser, tap the box and pick the file from Files (iPhone) or Downloads (Android). The pages appear at full width; press Fit width if they look too small, and use Find to jump to a section. This avoids installing a large office app just to read one document.

Is it safe to open attachments from strangers?

Opening a .docx in the viewer is safer than opening it in a full office program, because it shows the content without running macros or connecting to the internet. Still, treat unexpected attachments with care: don't follow links in a document you weren't expecting, and never type passwords into anything a document asks for.

Old .doc files

The viewer reads the modern .docx format, used since Word 2007. For an older .doc file, open it in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice and save it as .docx, then view it here.

Troubleshooting

• The page is too small on my phone: press Fit width, then zoom with the + button.
• Some text looks different: the document uses a font your device doesn't have. The browser substitutes a similar font.
• "Can't open this file": the document may be damaged or password-protected. Ask the sender for an unlocked copy.

Is it private?

Yes. The document is opened and drawn by code running in your browser. It's never sent to a server, so CVs, contracts and letters stay with you.

Open your document in the Word Viewer. For spreadsheets, use the Excel Viewer and read how to open Excel files without Excel.