How to Open DOCX File on Windows, Mac, Phone or Online (Free)

What is a DOCX file?

A DOCX file is a word processing document in Microsoft's Office Open XML format, the default format of Microsoft Word since Office 2007. The "X" stands for XML: instead of one binary blob like the older .doc, a .docx is a ZIP archive containing separate XML files for the text, styles, comments and properties, plus a media folder with the pictures.

The format is an open standard, published as ECMA-376 (first edition December 2006, fifth edition December 2021) and as ISO/IEC 29500. That's why so many apps besides Word can read it: Google Docs, LibreOffice, Apple Pages and TextEdit all open DOCX files without any plug-in.

Because the package is a normal ZIP, you can even copy a .docx, rename the copy to .zip and open it to pull out the original pictures from word/media (see how to open a ZIP file). Don't do this to your only copy: Word won't open the renamed file until you change the extension back.

How to open a DOCX file (quick answer)

Short answer: double-click the .docx if Microsoft Word is installed. If it isn't, any of these free options opens it:

1. On a Mac: drag the file onto the Pages icon (Pages opens .doc and .docx), or select it and press Space to preview it.
2. In any browser: sign in at microsoft365.com with a free Microsoft account, choose Word > Upload a file. Or upload it to Google Drive and double-click it to open it in Google Docs.
3. Offline on Windows, Mac or Linux: install LibreOffice and use File > Open in LibreOffice Writer.
4. Just need to read it? Drop it into the DOCX viewer above; it shows the text, tables and pictures and nothing is uploaded.

Open DOCX files on Windows 11 and Windows 10

With Microsoft Word installed, a .docx opens on double-click. Without Word, Windows has no built-in app that edits Word documents any more, so use one of these:

• Open DOCX file in Word for the web (free): Microsoft offers free web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint with a Microsoft account, plus 5 GB of OneDrive storage. Go to microsoft365.com, choose Word, then Upload a file.
• Open DOCX file in Google Docs (free): upload the file to drive.google.com and double-click it (steps).
• Open DOCX file in LibreOffice Writer (free, offline): install LibreOffice, then File > Open. Its help confirms Word documents (.doc and .docx) open in Writer, and File > Save As can save back to Word format.

What happened to WordPad?

WordPad used to be the free answer on Windows, but Microsoft deprecated it on September 1, 2023 and removed it from all editions of Windows starting with Windows 11, version 24H2 and Windows Server 2025. Microsoft now recommends Word for rich text documents and Notepad for plain text. If you're still on Windows 10 or an older Windows 11 build, WordPad may still be there, but it shows only part of a DOCX's formatting, so treat it as a viewer of last resort.

"How do you want to open this file?"

If you try to open DOCX file attachments and Windows asks which app to use, Word or LibreOffice isn't installed or isn't set as the default. Pick the app from the list and tick Always, or right-click the file > Open with > Choose another app. If the list is empty, use Word for the web or Google Docs instead of installing a random "DOCX viewer" from an ad.

How to open a DOCX file on Mac

Every Mac can open Word documents for free. Apple's Pages guide says you can open and edit Microsoft Word documents with a .doc or .docx extension; because double-clicking opens Word when it's installed, the reliable way is to drag the .docx onto the Pages icon in the Dock or Applications folder.

1. Preview without opening: select the file in Finder and press the Space bar. Quick Look shows a full-size preview.
2. Open DOCX file in Pages for free: drag it onto Pages. If fonts are missing, Pages shows a notice; choose Format > Font > Replace Fonts to pick substitutes.
3. Simple text only: TextEdit also opens Microsoft Word documents (Control-click the file > Open With > TextEdit). Complex layouts, text boxes and tracked changes may not survive.
4. Exact Word layout: use Word for Mac, Word for the web or LibreOffice for Mac.

When you're done in Pages, use File > Export To > Word if the other person needs a .docx back; Pages saves its own .pages format by default.

View DOCX files on iPhone and iPad

To open DOCX files on an iPhone, tap the .docx in the Files app (or in Mail) and it opens in a preview. iOS's built-in Quick Look previewer supports Microsoft Office documents, so you can read and share a Word file without installing anything.

• To edit it: tap the Share button in the preview and send it to Pages (free from Apple), Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
• Attachment shows a blank page or "unable to preview": save it to Files first (Share > Save to Files), then open it from there or in Pages. If it still fails, check it with the viewer on this page from a computer: it may be encrypted or not a real DOCX.

Open DOCX on Android

Install Google Docs or Microsoft Word from Google Play, then tap the .docx and pick that app. Most phones don't include a Word editor out of the box.

1. Google Docs: Google's help says Office Compatibility Mode is built into the Docs app on mobile, so a .doc or .docx opens and can be edited right away.
2. Microsoft Word: the "Microsoft Word: Edit Documents" app is free to download, with optional Microsoft 365 subscriptions for extra features.
3. Find the file: attachments and downloads are usually in Files by Google (or Samsung My Files) > Downloads. Tap the file and choose Docs or Word under "Open with".

Can't open DOCX files from WhatsApp, Gmail or Outlook? Save the attachment to Downloads first, then open it from Files. If a downloaded document is still called something.docx.crdownload, it never finished downloading; see how to open a CRDOWNLOAD file.

Open DOCX files online without Word

Three free ways to view DOCX files online: Word for the web, Google Docs, or the viewer at the top of this page. The first two upload the file to Microsoft or Google; the viewer here reads it locally.

Google Docs, step by step

1. Go to drive.google.com and choose New > File upload.
2. Double-click the uploaded .docx. Google Docs opens it and lets you edit it as a Word file.
3. To turn it into a native Google Doc, use File > Save as Google Docs. To get a Word file back, use File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx).

Uploading to open DOCX files online is fine for ordinary files, but for contracts, medical letters or HR documents you may prefer the local viewer above, which never sends the file anywhere.

DOCX vs DOC vs DOCM vs DOTX vs ODT

DOCX is the modern, macro-free Word format; the others are its relatives. All of them open in Word and LibreOffice, but they behave differently:

Word opens .odt through File > Open > Browse with OpenDocument Text selected as the type, and can save to it with Save a Copy; Microsoft warns the formatting may not be identical. LibreOffice can keep a Word file's VBA macros if you only edit the normal content and save back in a Microsoft format.

A common reason people can't open DOCX files on a website or in an app: an old .doc renamed to .docx (or the reverse). Word usually still opens it, but other apps and many websites reject it. The viewer above spots this by checking the file's first bytes.

Password-protected DOCX files

A DOCX protected with a password to open can only be read with that password. Word encrypts the whole package and stores it as an EncryptedPackage stream, with an EncryptionInfo stream, inside an OLE compound file. Microsoft documents this layout in its [MS-OFFCRYPTO] specification, and the UK National Archives' PRONOM registry lists it as "Microsoft Office Encrypted Document". That's why such a file starts with the bytes D0 CF 11 E0 instead of PK and "isn't a valid ZIP" for most viewers.

• Open DOCX file with a password: use Word or LibreOffice Writer and type the password when asked.
• Google Drive: Google's help says you can choose Preview or Edit for a password-protected Office file; choosing Edit removes the password for everyone, while Drive sharing still controls access.
• Forgot the password? Ask the sender for an unprotected copy. The encryption can't be bypassed, so "unlock" services can only try to guess the password.

Different thing: Restrict Editing in Word limits what others can change but doesn't encrypt anything. Such a file is still a normal ZIP, opens everywhere and its text shows in the viewer above, which reports the restriction.

DOCX file won't open or is corrupted: how to fix it

First find out what's wrong: drop the file into the viewer. It tells you whether it's a healthy DOCX, an encrypted one, an old .doc, a different format with the wrong extension, or a damaged package, and recovers the text when the end of the file is missing.

"Word found unreadable content"

The full message reads: "Word found unreadable content in …. Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, click Yes." It means some of the XML inside is damaged. Click Yes first; Word often rebuilds the file. Then save the result under a new name.

Open and Repair (Microsoft's steps)

1. In Word, go to File > Open > Browse and find the folder. Don't use the Recent list, which skips the dialog you need.
2. Click the document once to select it.
3. Click the arrow next to Open and choose Open and Repair.

If Open and Repair fails

• Recover Text from Any File: in File > Open, set the file type box to Recover Text from Any File (*.*) and open the document. Microsoft notes formatting, graphics and drawing objects are lost, but the text of fields, headers, footers, footnotes and endnotes is kept.
• Insert it into a blank document: create a new document, then Insert > Object > Text from File and pick the damaged file.
• Try another app: LibreOffice Writer and Google Docs sometimes open files Word rejects, so try to open DOCX file copies there. Save the result as a new .docx.
• Look for an earlier version: OneDrive and SharePoint keep version history, and Word's AutoRecover may have a copy if Word crashed.

Paid "DOCX repair" tools can't rebuild data that isn't in the file. If the viewer shows the end of the file is missing, a fresh download or copy is the only full fix.

Protected View: why your DOCX opens read-only

Word opens documents from the internet, email attachments and unsafe locations in Protected View, a read-only mode that disables most editing. It's a safety feature, not a problem with the file.

• Yellow bar ("Be careful — files from the Internet can contain viruses…"): click Enable Editing if you trust the sender.
• Red bar (for example "Microsoft 365 has detected a problem with this file"): the file failed validation. Edit it only via File > Edit Anyway, and only if you're sure where it came from.

Is a DOCX file safe?

Usually, yes. A normal .docx can't contain VBA macros; macro-enabled documents use .docm. The risky cases are a .docx that actually contains a macro project, a document that loads a remote template, embedded objects and links to outside files. The viewer above flags all of these and never runs anything. In Word, don't click Enable Content on a document you didn't expect.

You can delete a DOCX you no longer need like any other document; no program depends on it.

Convert DOCX to PDF (and other formats) for free

Use the same app you used to open DOCX files in the first place; it keeps the layout far better than text-only converters.

• Word (Windows or Mac): File > Save a Copy (or Save As), choose PDF in the type list, then Save.
• Google Docs: File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf). The same menu also offers .docx and .odt.
• LibreOffice Writer: File > Export As > Export as PDF.
• Plain text: the viewer above downloads the text as .txt, with tracked changes accepted.

Received a PDF and need to work with it instead? See how to open a PDF file. For spreadsheets saved by Excel, see how to open an XLSX file.

Related file extensions

Sources and technical references

Every step and number on this page was checked against these official pages on October 7, 2026.

• ECMA-376 Office Open XML File Formats — Ecma International — the DOCX standard, editions from December 2006 to December 2021, corresponding to ISO/IEC 29500.
• Deprecated features for Windows client — Microsoft Learn — WordPad removed starting with Windows 11, version 24H2.
• Open a document after a file corruption error — Microsoft Support — Open and Repair steps.
• How to troubleshoot damaged documents in Word — Microsoft Learn — Recover Text from Any File, Text from File and other methods.
• What is Protected View? — Microsoft Support — yellow and red message bars.
• Save or convert to PDF — Microsoft Support
• Use Word to open or save a document in the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format — Microsoft Support
• Free Microsoft 365 for the web — Microsoft — free Word for the web and 5 GB OneDrive.
• Work with Office files — Google Docs Help — editing Word files, mobile Office Compatibility Mode, password-protected files.
• Files you can store in Google Drive — Google Drive Help — 50 MB and 1.02 million character limits.
• Create, view, or download a file — Google Docs Help — File > Download formats.
• Open a document in Pages on Mac — Apple Support — .doc and .docx support, missing fonts.
• Export to Word, PDF, or another file format — Apple Support — File > Export To in Pages.
• Create, open and convert documents in TextEdit — Apple Support
• View and edit files with Quick Look on Mac — Apple Support
• Using the Quick Look Framework — Apple Developer — iOS previews of Microsoft Office documents.
• Using Microsoft Office and LibreOffice — LibreOffice Help — opening and saving Word files, VBA macros.
• Export as PDF — LibreOffice Help
• Microsoft Office Encrypted Document (fmt/494) — The National Archives PRONOM — EncryptionInfo and EncryptedPackage structure.
• Microsoft Word: Edit Documents — Google Play
• Office Open XML — Wikipedia — history, .docm, MIME type.

Frequently asked questions