How to open a .DOC file online
Three steps, a few seconds, no Office licence.
Choose your .DOC file
Drag your .DOC file onto the box, or click Choose file.
Supported
Your .DOC file is checked and laid out as a clean page right.
Read, search, save
Jump between headings, find any word, print it, or save the text as HTML or TXT.
What is a .DOC file?
Everything worth knowing about Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document files.
A DOC file is a Microsoft Word document saved in the old 1997-2003 binary format. You can open it for free with LibreOffice Writer, Google Docs, or Word for the web, with no Microsoft Office purchase required. If you plan to keep editing it, saving it as DOCX is a good idea.
Programs that open .DOC files
| Full name | Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document |
|---|---|
| Developer | Microsoft |
| First released | 1983 (Word 1.0); the modern OLE-based .doc layout dates from Word 97 (1997) |
| Category | Documents |
| MIME type | application/msword |
| Signature | D0 CF 11 E0 A1 B1 1A E1 (OLE2 / Compound File Binary signature) |
Related viewers
Free, no sign-up.
Is my .DOC file uploaded anywhere?
No. Your .DOC file is read and converted for you. The first time, a small open-source conversion component is downloaded and then cached.
Why does my older .DOC file look plain?
Some older word-processor files keep their formatting in a complex binary layout. The viewer shows all the text and tables reliably; richer formatting for those files is coming with server-side conversion.
Are macros in a .DOC file safe here?
Yes. The viewer never runs macros. It only reads the document text, styles and images, and tells you when a file contains macros.
Can I edit my .DOC file?
This is a viewer. You can copy the text or save it as HTML/TXT and edit it elsewhere. An online editor is on our roadmap.
It says my .DOC file is something else. Why?
We check the file's signature, not just its name. If a file was renamed, the viewer tells you what it really is and which tool opens it.
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