Free online DOCX to TXT converter

A plain-text import tool, code workflow, e-reader, or archive may reject formatted Word documents and require a .txt file instead. Conversion extracts readable text while discarding document layout and most Word-specific features.

What DOCX and TXT files contain

DOCX is the default document format used by Microsoft Word. It is an Office Open XML package: a ZIP-based container holding XML content and resources for paragraphs, styles, tables, images, headers, footnotes, comments, tracked changes, and metadata. LibreOffice Writer and other office suites can open many DOCX files, although complex formatting may not render identically.

TXT stores plain characters and line breaks without fonts, bold text, page layout, embedded images, tables, comments, or revision history. It is suitable for text imports, scripts, command-line processing, simple editors, and content extraction. A TXT file is often smaller than the source DOCX because it excludes formatting and embedded resources.

TXT does not define one mandatory character encoding. UTF-8 is the usual choice because it supports accented characters, non-Latin writing systems, and symbols. Use Windows-1252 or another legacy encoding only when the receiving system explicitly requires it.

Convert a DOCX file to TXT

Upload the .docx file to 101convert.com, select TXT as the output format, start the conversion, and download the resulting .txt file. Open the result in a plain-text editor before submitting or importing it, especially when the original contains tables, lists, or special characters.

Microsoft Word can also create the file locally:

1. Open the DOCX document in Word.
2. Select File → Save As → Browse.
3. Choose Plain Text (*.txt) as the file type and save.
4. In the text encoding dialog, select UTF-8 unless the destination application specifies another encoding.

In LibreOffice Writer, open the document, select File → Save As, choose Text (.txt), and save with a .txt filename. Set the character set to Unicode (UTF-8) in the export options.

Compatibility and content loss

Plain text preserves character content and paragraph breaks, not page design. Font choices, bold and italic styling, colors, margins, page breaks, images, shapes, and most review data are not represented in TXT. Headers, footers, footnotes, comments, and hyperlink destinations may be omitted or reduced to visible text, depending on the converter.

Tables require inspection after conversion. Cells can become tab-separated text, space-separated text, or separate lines; merged cells and visual alignment are lost. If a receiving system needs structured rows and columns, export the table as CSV or use a spreadsheet format instead of TXT.

Numbered and bulleted lists may lose their original indentation or numbering style. Check the output when list markers carry meaning, such as legal clauses, procedural steps, or outline levels.

Line endings can also matter to strict import tools: Windows commonly uses CRLF, while Linux and macOS commonly use LF. Most editors accept either form, but use the line-ending setting in a text editor if the destination system requires a specific convention.