Convert DOCX to TXT

Convert DOCX to TXT to strip a Word document of all its formatting and keep the bare text. Table rows are not lost along the way: their cells line up in a single row separated by tab characters.

What happens when you convert DOCX to TXT

A DOCX file is an archive of XML where every word travels with details about its font, indents and styles. That suits a human reader. The moment a program tries to parse the file, the markup turns into an obstacle.

TXT leaves only the characters. Paragraphs are split by line breaks and the cells of one table row by tabs, so the columns can be pulled apart again by a script or an import into a spreadsheet.

• Paragraphs and the order of the text carry over in full.
• Fonts, sizes, colours, alignment and indents are discarded.
• Table cells land in one line separated by tabs, and the table borders disappear.
• Images, charts and shapes do not reach the text file.
• Bullets and numbering are lost, while the contents of the items remain.

How to convert DOCX to TXT

1. Upload your DOCX file on this page.
2. Pick TXT as the output format.
3. Click “Convert”.
4. Download the text file.

Where bare text is what you need

• Load document contents into a search index, a knowledge base or an analytics pipeline.
• Parse contracts with a script: pull out reference numbers, dates and amounts.
• Move text into another editor without dragging someone else’s styles along.
• Compare two revisions line by line, where formatting only gets in the way.
• Open the file on a device that has no Word installed.

Limits

• File size: up to 50 MB as a guest, up to 100 MB with a free account.
• Running heads and footnotes do not reach the result.
• Even a long document produces its text file in seconds.

When the document holds more than text

• There are tables of figures inside. Tabs keep the order of the values, but calculations are easier from a spreadsheet export.
• Headings and lists matter. The DOCX to HTML converter keeps the structure by turning them into tags.
• The file feeds a program. For machine processing the DOCX to JSON converter is the better fit.

Other directions for DOCX

• The document has to be fixed before sending: use the DOCX to PDF converter.
• The text belongs on a web page: markup comes from the DOCX to HTML converter.
• The reverse job, turning a PDF back into Word: the PDF to Word (DOCX) converter.

FAQ

What happens to tables?

Each table row becomes a line of text with tabs between the cells. Such a file imports back into a spreadsheet easily.

Are headings and lists preserved?

Their text stays, but the levels, bullets and numbering vanish — TXT has nothing to store them in.

Do images make it into the file?

No. Images, charts and shapes are dropped during conversion.

What about the older DOC format?

DOC files convert to PDF only. To get text out of one, re-save it as .docx in Word or LibreOffice and upload it here.