Last checked by the TextEditor.com team
How to edit a Word document online
You don't need Word or an account. The editor runs in your browser, and the file is read on your device. Nothing is sent to our server.
- Open your fileDrop a .docx file on the page, or click Open file. Ctrl+O works too.
- Edit on the pageChange text, headings, lists and tables on a sheet the size of A4 or Letter.
- Save itClick Save .docx or press Ctrl+S. You can also save a PDF or a text file.
Your work also saves in this browser as you type. Close the tab, come back later, and the document is still here.
What stays when you open and save a .docx
A Word file holds a lot more than text. This editor keeps the parts that carry meaning: headings, lists, tables, links and pictures. Exact fonts, page breaks and headers are not kept when you open a file.
| Part of the document | When you open a .docx | When you save as .docx |
|---|---|---|
| Headings | Kept | Saved as Word heading styles |
| Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough | Kept | Kept |
| Bullet and numbered lists | Kept, with their levels | Kept, with their levels |
| Links | Kept | Kept |
| Tables | Kept, with merged cells | Kept, with borders and merged cells |
| Pictures | Kept | Kept, up to the page width |
| Text color, highlight, size | Lost | Kept when you set them here |
| Center and right alignment | Lost | Kept when you set them here |
| Fonts | Shown in the page font | Calibri, or the font you pick here |
| Page size and margins | Page size is read, margins are not | A4 or Letter with 1 inch margins |
| Footnotes | Moved to a list at the end | Saved as a normal list |
| Headers, footers, page numbers | Lost | Not added |
| Comments and tracked changes | Comments are dropped. Changes show as accepted. | Not added |
| Charts, shapes, text effects | Lost | Not added |
So the editor is a good fit for letters, reports, essays and forms with tables. For a file with a complex layout, like a brochure or a newsletter, use Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice instead.
What is inside a .docx file
A .docx file is a zip folder with a few text files inside. The main one, word/document.xml, holds your text in XML, a format made of tags. The format is an open standard called Office Open XML (ECMA-376), so any program can read and write it.
Type a line below and pick a style. You will see the same XML this editor writes into the file when you click Save .docx.
w:p is a paragraph, w:r a run of text with the same look, w:rPr the look itself, and w:t the text.
Want the HTML code of a Word file for a website instead? Paste the document into the HTML editor, which turns Word text into clean HTML.
Old .doc files
Files that end in .doc come from Word 2003 and older. They use a closed binary format, not XML, so a browser can't read them. Open the file in Word and use File, Save As, then pick "Word Document (*.docx)". LibreOffice and Google Docs can save a .doc as .docx too.
Print or save as PDF
Pick "PDF (print)" in the Download menu. Your browser's print window opens with only the document, on the page size you chose. To get a PDF file, choose "Save as PDF" as the printer.
The faint lines on the page show about where each printed page ends. Long tables and pictures may move the break a little.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + S | Saves a .docx file. In Chrome and Edge it saves back to the file you opened. |
| Ctrl + O | Opens a .docx file |
| Ctrl + K | Every command in one list. Type to find one. |
| Ctrl + F or H | Find and replace in the document |
| Ctrl + P | Prints only the document |
| Ctrl + B, I, U | Bold, italic and underline |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo, also after opening a file or starting a new one |
| Shift + Enter | Line break inside a paragraph |
More tools for documents
- Write with bold, lists and linksB I UThe rich text editor. Copy it formatted into email or Word.
- Change a PDFPDF ✍Add text, a signature or white out, then save the file again.
- Edit a spreadsheet
.xlsx▦The table editor opens Excel files and cells you paste. - Count words and charactersHello world → 2 wordsThe word counter also checks the limits of social media.