Convert ODT to DOCX OpenDocument Text ↔ Word Free Online Secure
The content moves across: headings, paragraphs, bold and italic, lists, tables, links and images. The page layout does not.
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Drop an .odt here, or choose one.
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Convert from ODT
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Where these formats come from
Both of these formats are the same thing underneath: a zip archive full of XML files describing the text, the styles and the pictures. OpenDocument came first, from the OpenOffice project, and became ISO 26300 in 2006. Microsoft's Office Open XML followed and became ISO 29500 in 2008, after a standardisation fight so bitter that national bodies changed their votes under public argument. The outcome is that the world now has two open, documented, interchangeable office formats rather than one proprietary one — which is precisely why converting between them is possible at all, and why it mostly works.
Where you meet them
The conversion is needed whenever two people use different software on the same document: a colleague who works in LibreOffice sending a file to one who works in Microsoft Office, a public body that accepts only ODF, a client who insists on .docx. It also matters for the long term — an archive kept in an open format can still be opened in twenty years, whoever is still in business.
Questions people ask
Will my formatting survive the conversion?
Ordinary formatting — headings, bold, lists, tables, images, page breaks — comes through faithfully, because both formats describe the same things in much the same way. What travels badly is everything at the edges: complex nested tables, text boxes anchored to odd positions, uncommon numbering schemes, and anything built on a feature only one of the two has. Open the result and look at the places where you did something clever; that is where the differences will be, if anywhere.
What happens to my macros?
They do not come across. Macros are program code written for one particular office suite, and the other suite does not run that language — a Word VBA macro means nothing to LibreOffice Basic and the other way round. The conversion carries the document and discards the code. If a file's whole purpose is its automation, it has to be rewritten rather than converted, and that is a programming job rather than a file job.
Does the file lose quality?
It depends on what the two formats can hold. Converting between formats that store the same thing — a PNG to a BMP, a WAV to a FLAC — loses nothing. Converting into a format that throws information away to save space, such as JPEG or MP3, loses a little every time, and converting back does not bring it back. Where a choice exists, this page errs towards keeping the original quality rather than making the smallest file.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, on your own machine; the file never leaves it and there is no server here that could receive it. That is why a large file is limited by your own memory rather than by an upload, and why nothing you convert can appear in anybody's logs — including ours. The audio and video tools do fetch their conversion engine from this site the first time you use them, some thirty megabytes once; after that the work still happens entirely on your machine.
Why people convert ODT to DOCX
You wrote the document in LibreOffice Writer or another open office program, and now you have to send it to someone who works in Microsoft Word. That is the most common reason to convert ODT to DOCX, and it comes up all the time: a job application, a letter to a client, a draft for a co-author, a form that insists on a Word file. Word can open ODT files in many cases, but the result is hit and miss, and some recipients simply cannot or will not deal with an unfamiliar format. A DOCX is the file they expect, and giving them one removes a source of friction.
The other side of the story is the habit of an organisation. Many offices, publishers and agencies run on Word. A document sent to them as DOCX goes straight into their workflow, with tracked changes, templates and review tools they already use. If you write in open software but deliver to such an environment, the conversion is the bridge between the two.
This page converts ODT to DOCX in your browser. Your document is not uploaded to a server, which matters for contracts, letters and drafts. Below you will find what carries across, what does not, how numbered lists behave, and how to check the result before you send it.
What carries across
The content
When you convert ODT to DOCX here, the content of your document comes across: headings, paragraphs, bold, italic and underlined text, lists, tables, links and images. These are the things that make up what a document says and how its parts relate. A heading stays a heading, a table keeps its rows and columns, a link still points where it did, and your pictures appear where they were.
Real structure, not painted-on formatting
Because headings, lists and tables arrive as headings, lists and tables rather than as plain text with formatting painted on top, the DOCX is easy to work with in Word. The recipient can use the navigation pane to jump between headings, apply their own styles, build a contents list and edit as if the document had been written in Word from the start.
Why this matters to the recipient
A document with real structure behaves well in review. Co-authors can restyle headings in one step and reorder sections by dragging. A document with fake structure, such as bold text pretending to be a heading, resists such editing. Converting ODT to DOCX preserves the real kind, which is what makes the file feel native to its recipient.
What does not carry across
Page layout
The page layout does not come across. Page size and margins, headers and footers, columns and footnotes are not carried over. In the DOCX, the page will have Word's defaults. A document with wide margins and a two-column layout will arrive as single-column text on a standard page, with its words and headings intact.
Fonts and custom styles
Fonts and custom styles are not carried over. Your text will appear in the default font of the converting program, and any special styles you defined in Writer, such as a particular heading look, are not reproduced. The headings and paragraphs are there; their appearance is the default.
Numbered lists may become bullets
One detail specific to this direction: numbered lists arrive as bullets unless the document marked them otherwise. The reason is that the two formats describe numbering differently, and unless the ODT states plainly that a list is numbered, the converter plays safe and uses bullets. If your document has numbered lists, check them after the conversion and re-apply numbering in Word where you need it. It is a quick fix: select the list and click the numbering button.
How to avoid the numbering surprise
In your ODT, make sure numbered lists are created with the list tools rather than typed numbers. A list built with real numbering is marked as such and has the best chance of arriving as numbered. Typed numbers followed by text are just text, and arrive as paragraphs beginning with a digit, which is fine to read but not a real list.
A typeset document will need laying out again
The honest summary: a document with careful typesetting, such as a newsletter, a brochure, a thesis with precise formatting or a form, will need to be laid out again in Word. The words and the structure will be there, but the design will not. For plain documents, such as letters, reports, essays and notes, the difference is small and a minute or two of tidying is all that is needed.
If the recipient only needs to read the document and appearance matters, consider sending a PDF instead, which preserves the layout exactly. If they need to edit it, the DOCX is the right choice, and the layout can be set in Word to their own template.
What ODT and DOCX are
ODT, short for OpenDocument Text, is the document format of LibreOffice Writer and OpenOffice, built on a public standard that anyone may implement. DOCX is the format Microsoft Word has used by default for many years. Both are small packages of files: the text, the styles that say how headings and paragraphs should look, the images and the page settings. They arrange those parts differently, which is why a document cannot simply be renamed from one to the other, and why a program has to translate between them.
When you convert ODT to DOCX, the translation covers the content faithfully and leaves the page machinery behind, because the two programs build pages in different ways. The content is what a reader cares about: the words, the headings, the lists, the tables, the links and the pictures. The machinery is what a designer cares about: margins, columns, headers, footers, fonts. Converting moves the first and invites you to redo the second in the new program.
Why not just send the ODT?
Sometimes you can. If you know the recipient uses LibreOffice, send the ODT: it is the native format and will look as you intended. But many people use Word, and while recent versions of Word open ODT files, they do so with variable success, sometimes shifting layout or dropping styles. A DOCX made to be opened in Word avoids that uncertainty. The few seconds it takes to convert ODT to DOCX are cheaper than a confused email thread.
Sending a document to someone who uses Word
Before you convert ODT to DOCX, ask yourself what the recipient will do with the file. If they will only read it, a PDF is better than either format, because it looks the same everywhere. If they will edit it, the DOCX is the right choice, and you should expect them to adapt the layout to their own template. If they will print it exactly as you designed it, send a PDF and keep the editable file for yourself.
When the recipient will edit, help them: use real headings and lists in your ODT, keep tables simple and tell them which parts are final. A document that is clean at the source converts cleanly, and a recipient who opens a tidy DOCX is far more likely to be pleased than one who opens a jumble.
Tracked changes and collaboration
If you plan to collaborate, with edits and comments passing back and forth, agree one master format. Word's review tools are powerful, but they live in the DOCX world; Writer has its own. If your colleague will review in Word and you in Writer, expect rough edges in the round trip. A simple rule is to convert ODT to DOCX once, let the reviewer work in the DOCX, and accept their changes there rather than converting back repeatedly.
Lists, numbering and why bullets appear
Numbered lists deserve a special mention because they are the one thing that most often surprises people who convert ODT to DOCX. The two formats describe numbering in different ways. A list in Writer carries a numbering style, and unless the ODT says clearly that a list is numbered, the converter cannot be sure, so it plays safe and writes a bulleted list. The text of every item is intact; only the marker changes.
The fix in Word takes seconds: select the items and press the numbering button. If you have many lists, it is quicker to prevent the problem: in Writer, create numbered lists with the numbering tool, not by typing numbers. Typed numbers are ordinary text and arrive as ordinary text, which is also fine to read, though not a true list.
Nested lists
Lists inside lists, with sub-points, usually keep their levels. Check them after you convert ODT to DOCX, because the level structure is part of what makes the list useful, and re-apply the indent in Word if a level has been flattened.
How to convert ODT to DOCX here
Add your document
Drop the .odt file onto the page or pick it from your device. It is read inside your browser and is not uploaded.
Convert
Press the button. For a normal document this takes a few seconds.
Download and check in Word
Download the DOCX and open it in Word if you have it, or in any program that reads DOCX. Check the headings, lists and tables, then set the page up as required.
Preparing a document for a clean result
Use real styles
If your headings are made with Writer's heading styles, they arrive as headings. If they are just large text, they arrive as large text. Real styles survive far better.
Use real lists
Create numbered and bulleted lists with the list tools, not by typing numbers or symbols, so the structure is marked.
Keep tables simple
Plain tables convert reliably. Complicated merged cells are where differences appear first.
Questions people ask before converting
Why did my numbered list turn into bullets?
Because numbered lists arrive as bullets unless the document marked them otherwise. Re-apply numbering in Word; it takes a click.
Why did the layout change?
Because page size and margins, headers and footers, columns, footnotes, fonts and custom styles are not carried over. The content is; the design is set again.
Are images kept?
Yes. Images come across along with headings, paragraphs, lists, tables and links.
Is my document uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser and the file never leaves your device.
Who converts ODT to DOCX
Users of free office software
People who write in LibreOffice or OpenOffice but deliver to Word users need this conversion constantly.
Job seekers and freelancers
Applications and client documents are often requested as Word files, and converting gets you there without installing Word.
Teams with mixed software
When colleagues use different programs, converting a copy lets everyone work in their own tools.
Common mistakes
Not checking numbered lists
They may arrive as bullets. Look before you send.
Expecting identical layout
The page setup is not carried over. Set it again in Word.
Deleting the original
Keep the ODT as the master, especially for typeset documents.
Related tools
To go the other way, convert DOCX to ODT. For a fixed, shareable copy, convert ODT to PDF or convert DOCX to PDF. If you have a PDF and want editable text, convert PDF to DOCX or PDF to ODT. For spreadsheets and slides, ODS to XLS, XLS to ODS, ODP to PPTX and PPTX to ODP do the same job.
When to convert ODT to DOCX, and when not to
Converting is right when a recipient needs an editable Word file: for a job application, a client revision or a co-author's draft. It is the wrong move when they only need to read it, in which case a PDF is more faithful, or when exact design is the point, because the page layout does not come across. And if the recipient also uses open software, the ODT itself is the better file to send.
For the common cases, such as letters, reports, proposals, essays and notes, it is quick, private and dependable to convert ODT to DOCX in the browser. Your original is never changed, so you can come back and convert ODT to DOCX again whenever you like.
Converting a collection
If you have many documents to send, convert them one at a time and keep the originals in a separate folder. Try one first and check it, so that you know what to expect from the rest. When you convert ODT to DOCX in bulk, consistency matters more than speed: a folder of documents that all behave the same way is far easier to hand over.
Documents with unusual content
Some documents contain things this conversion does not handle: embedded spreadsheets, drawings made with Writer's shapes, equations, self-updating fields. The surrounding text and structure still arrive, but those special objects may not. If your document depends on them, check the result carefully after you convert ODT to DOCX, and keep the original for reference.
Large documents and slow devices
Everything runs on your own device, so very large documents depend on its memory. A hundred pages of text is no trouble. A document with hundreds of high-resolution images may be slow on an older phone. If it struggles, give the browser a moment and avoid switching to other apps while it works.
Your document stays on your device
The conversion happens locally. Your document is read by your own browser, written as a DOCX there and handed back. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy on a server and no one else who could see it. For contracts, letters and drafts, that is the safe way to convert ODT to DOCX.
A worked example
Say you wrote a project proposal in LibreOffice, with a title, five headings, a numbered list of milestones, a table of costs and one diagram, and the client wants a Word file. You drop the ODT here and press the button. You open the DOCX: headings, table and diagram are in place, but the milestones are bulleted, so you click the numbering button on that list. You set the margins to the client's template and send the file.
A closing word
The best results come from thinking of the conversion as moving the substance of a document, not copying its appearance. Start with clean structure, convert, check the lists, and then dress the page again in Word. Done in that spirit, the process is quick and leaves the recipient with a tidy document that feels native to their software.
Before you close the page
Check that you downloaded the DOCX, that numbered lists look right, and that you kept the original ODT.
Summary
To convert ODT to DOCX here, drop the file and press the button. Headings, paragraphs, bold, italic, underline, lists, tables, links and images come across. Page size and margins, headers and footers, columns, footnotes, fonts and custom styles do not, and numbered lists arrive as bullets unless the document marked them otherwise. Nothing leaves your device.