Tab types a tab. To leave the page with the keyboard, press Escape and then Tab, or F6 for the ribbon.
Edit a Word document without Word
Someone sent you a .docx and there is no Word on this computer, or you only need to fix a date and a name. Open the file here, change it, and save it as a Word document again. It works in the browser you already have, so it is a quick way to view or edit DOCX online without signing in to anything.
- Open the .docx. Click Open a Word file… on the empty page, use File → Open (Ctrl+O), or drop the file onto the page.
- Edit it. Fonts, sizes, colors, lists, alignment and spacing are on the Home tab of the ribbon. Ctrl+F finds a word and Ctrl+H replaces it everywhere.
- Save. On this page Save (Ctrl+S) writes a .docx. The file opens in Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages.
Use it as a DOCX viewer
To only read a Word file, open it and scroll. That makes this a free DOCX viewer online, with nothing to install and no account: zoom with the slider in the status bar (or pinch on a phone), print with Ctrl+P, or keep a PDF copy. The file stays as it was unless you save.
It is not a .doc viewer: old Word 97–2003 documents (.doc) do not open here. Save one as .docx in Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs first, and this Word viewer shows it.
What a Word file keeps here
The editor is deliberately simple, in the spirit of WordPad. It reads everything that formats paragraphs and text, and warns you before saving over a file that has tables, headers, footers, footnotes, comments, text boxes or tracked changes.
| In the document | Here |
|---|---|
| Paragraph styles such as Heading 1 and Title, with the fonts from the document’s theme | Shown as their fonts and sizes; saved as direct formatting, without the style names |
| Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, colors, highlight | Kept |
| Alignment, indents, line and paragraph spacing | Kept |
| Bulleted and numbered lists, nested levels | Kept |
| Links and pictures placed in the text | Kept |
| Tracked changes | Shown with all changes accepted; saving keeps that version |
| Tables | Shown as lines of tab-separated text |
| Headers, footers, footnotes, comments, text boxes | Not shown |
For long reports full of tables, use Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs. For letters, forms and CVs, this is enough, and it opens faster.
Other formats from the same file
- PDF — File → PDF document (.pdf) makes a PDF in the browser, for printing or sending a final copy.
- Rich Text (.rtf) — for older programs, TextEdit and WordPad on Windows 10. The RTF editor covers that format in detail.
- Plain text (.txt) — the words without formatting.
Old Word 97–2003 files (.doc) are not opened yet: save them as .docx in the program that made them first. OpenDocument files (.odt) from LibreOffice do open: File → Open or drag one onto the page, and Save makes a .docx or .rtf from it, leaving the .odt as it was. The ODT to DOCX converter does the same without the editor.
Only need the file in another format? These converters do it in one step, without the editor: DOCX to TXT, ODT to DOCX.
Your document stays on your device
Many free DOCX viewers upload the file to their server to convert it. Here the browser unpacks the .docx itself, on your computer or phone, and nothing is sent anywhere. That matters for contracts, medical letters and anything with an address in it. A draft is kept in this browser until you start a new one with File → New, so a closed tab does not lose your changes.
Questions about Word files
Can I open a DOCX file without Microsoft Word?
Yes. Click Open a Word file on the empty page above, or File → Open, and pick the .docx file, or drag it onto the page. It opens in your browser with its fonts, sizes, colors, lists, links and pictures. No Word license, account or download is needed.
How do I edit a Word document for free?
Open the .docx here, make your changes with the ribbon, and choose Save. The document is written back as a Word file that opens in Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages. You can also save a copy as RTF, plain text or PDF.
Will the formatting of my Word file be kept?
Paragraph and character formatting is: fonts, sizes, bold, italic, underline, colors, highlight, alignment, indents, line spacing, bullets, numbering, links and pictures. Tables become tab-separated lines, and headers, footers, footnotes, comments and text boxes are not shown. When a file has any of those, the editor says so before you save over it.
Can I open an old .doc file?
Not yet. The .doc format used by Word 97–2003 is a different, binary format. Open it in Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs and save it as .docx or .rtf, then open that file here.
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and written by your browser on your own device and is never sent to a server. A draft is kept in this browser so a closed tab does not lose your work; File → New replaces it with an empty page.
Can I open an ODT file from LibreOffice here?
Yes. File → Open or drag the .odt onto the page, and it opens with its fonts, colors, lists and pictures. This editor cannot write OpenDocument, so Save asks whether to make a Word (.docx) or Rich Text (.rtf) file and leaves the .odt as it was. Footnotes, comments, headers, footers and text boxes are not shown, and tables become tab-separated lines; the editor says which of these your file had.
Can I view a DOCX file on my phone?
Yes, in Safari on iPhone and iPad or Chrome on Android: tap Open a Word file and pick the document from Files or Downloads. The ribbon shrinks to the main buttons on a small screen, which is fine for reading and quick fixes.