What is a DOCX file?
DOCX is the Word document nearly every office runs on. It is made to be edited, so text, styles, images and comments all stay live, and it opens in Word, Google Docs and the free alternatives. You can turn a DOCX into other formats here, though nothing can be saved back as DOCX.
Specification
| Full name | Office Open XML Document |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .docx |
| Media type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Compression | Lossless |
| Transparency | — |
| Animation | — |
| Multiple pages | Supported |
| Colour depth | ZIP package of XML parts plus embedded media |
| Size limits | — |
| Introduced | 2007 |
| Developed by | Microsoft |
| Standard | Open |
| Browser support | Not displayed by browsers |
What DOCX is used for
- Business documents, reports and letters written in Word
- Collaborative drafts passed between reviewers with tracked changes
- Templates and mail merge sources in an office workflow
- Manuscripts submitted to publishers and journals that require Word files
Strengths and limitations
What DOCX does well
- Other tools can read and write it without Word being involved
- Much smaller and far less corruption-prone than the old binary DOC
- Tracked changes, comments and styles survive round trips between editors
Where DOCX falls short
- Pagination depends on the renderer, so page breaks shift between applications
- The specification is enormous and few implementations cover all of it
- No browser displays it natively, so the web needs a conversion first
Convert DOCX to
Every target this format can be written out as, each on its own page.
Questions about DOCX
What is a .docx file?
DOCX is the Word document nearly every office runs on. The extension .docx identifies it, and its media type is application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document.
How do I open a DOCX file?
Browsers do not display DOCX natively, so you either need software that understands it or you convert it to something more common first. Converting is usually the faster route when you only need to look at the contents once.
Is DOCX lossy or lossless?
Lossless. Nothing is discarded, so repeated saves never degrade the contents.
What is DOCX good for?
Other tools can read and write it without Word being involved. Much smaller and far less corruption-prone than the old binary DOC. Tracked changes, comments and styles survive round trips between editors. In practice that makes it a good fit for business documents, reports and letters written in Word, and Collaborative drafts passed between reviewers with tracked changes.
What are the drawbacks of DOCX?
Pagination depends on the renderer, so page breaks shift between applications. The specification is enormous and few implementations cover all of it. No browser displays it natively, so the web needs a conversion first.