How to View and Convert .docx Files Online

by David Hakala

Docx is the new file format used by Microsoft Word 2007 by default. It cannot be opened by previous versions of Word. If you do not want to install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats, there is an alternative way to convert docx files to previous versions’ doc format.

Several online services will let you upload a docx file, convert it to doc format, and download the converted file to you. Here are three such services and their pros and cons:

Zamzar.com converts to and from a variety of document files and docx is one of them. You can also convert image, music, video, compressed, and CAD (Computer Aided Design) formats. The free service allows the conversion of files up to 100 MB in size. Three tiers of paid services add online storage, a file management inbox, ability to rename and delete your files, 128-bit SSL encrypted connections, and the ability to convert files up to 1 GB in size. Prices range from $7 to $49 per month and you can cancel any time. Paying customers get their files converted faster.
Docx2doc.com’s free is a one-trick pony; it does docx to doc conversion only. A package of 36 conversions costs $7.95 per year, including making PDF files. The docXConverter downloadable, standalone program also converts Excel 2007’s xlxs format into xls and other formats; it is free to try for 30 days and costs $19.95 to register.
DocX Converter converts docx files into standard HTML files, which can be read by OpenOffice, Lotus 123, NeoOffice, and many non-Microsoft document editing applications as well as older versions of Office. A free desktop widget lets you convert docx files on your computer. This solution strips out some of the formatting, but now supports bold, italic, and underlined text; left, right, center, and justified alignment; Unicode characters; tables; and more!
One little-known way to view a docx file takes advantage of Windows built-in ZIP compression technology.
Rename document.docx to document.zip
Right-click on the “zip” file and click Extract here to extract the file in the same folder
You will get a folder named Windows with document.xml in it. You can open the xml file with your Web browser.

David Hakala has written technology tutorials since 1988, in addition to tech journalism, profitable content, documentation, and marketing collateral.