Free online DOC to TEXT converter

Some programs, devices, import tools, and scripts accept only .txt, while a DOC file contains formatting they cannot interpret. Converting it creates a smaller plain-text copy for sharing, searching, processing, or archiving, but removes the document’s visual layout.

What the DOC format is

.doc is Microsoft Word’s proprietary binary document format, used primarily before Word 2007 introduced the XML-based .docx format. A DOC file can contain formatted paragraphs, tables, images, headers, footers, fields, comments, tracked changes, and embedded objects. Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and other compatible office suites can open and edit DOC files; they remain common in older archives and email attachments.

What the TEXT format is

A plain-text file, usually identified by .txt, stores characters without fonts, colors, page layout, images, tables, comments, or other rich-document structure. It can be opened by virtually any operating system, text editor, terminal, database import tool, or programming language.

Plain text is generally smaller and avoids many formatting-compatibility problems. It preserves readable characters and line breaks, but not visual appearance. Tables may become lines separated by tabs or spaces, and images, charts, drawings, and embedded files are not retained.

How to convert a DOC file to TEXT

Using Microsoft Word

1. Open the .doc file in Microsoft Word.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Select Plain Text (*.txt) or the equivalent text-file option in the file-type list.
4. Enter the output filename and select Save.
5. If Word displays a file-conversion or encoding dialog, choose UTF-8 unless the receiving system requires a specific legacy encoding.
6. Open the resulting .txt file in a text editor and check non-ASCII characters, line breaks, and table content.

Using LibreOffice Writer

1. Open the DOC file in LibreOffice Writer.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Select Text (.txt) or Text - Choose Encoding (.txt).
4. Select Save, then choose UTF-8 in the encoding dialog unless another encoding is required.
5. Review the exported file in a plain-text editor.

For repeated conversions, LibreOffice can run without its graphical interface:

soffice --headless --convert-to txt --outdir output input.doc

Create the output directory first. The command uses LibreOffice’s default text-export settings; use the graphical interface when you need to control encoding or inspect the result interactively.

Using the 101convert.com converter

1. Open the DOC-to-TEXT converter on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .doc file and select .txt as the output format.
3. Start the conversion and download the generated text file.
4. Check the downloaded file for character and layout changes before using it in another system.

This option does not require software installation. Do not upload confidential, personal, or regulated documents unless the service’s data-handling terms meet your requirements.

Quality and compatibility limits

• DOC-to-TEXT conversion removes formatting by design and cannot produce a visually equivalent document.
• Images, charts, drawings, colors, fonts, page breaks, comments, and tracked-change status are discarded or reduced to ordinary text. Review comments and revisions in the DOC file before exporting.
• Complex tables can lose cell boundaries, alignment, and reading order. Use a structured format such as CSV or spreadsheet format when table data must remain machine-readable.
• Hyperlinks may remain as visible URL or link text, but they are no longer rich clickable objects with guaranteed structure.
• Footers, headers, footnotes, fields, and other document elements may be flattened, reordered, or omitted depending on the application used for export.
• Choose an encoding that supports the document’s characters. UTF-8 is the safest general choice for characters such as é, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Chinese; older software may require Windows-1252 or another code page.