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DOCX Repair
Free DOCX repair that runs in your browser. Drop a corrupted Word file, see what is broken, and download a repaired copy in seconds. The file never leaves your device.
Ready
Repair a Word file
Checked and repaired on your device. The file is never uploaded.
Under a minute
How it works
- 01
Drop in the Word file
Drag the .docx that won't open onto the tool, or click to choose it. Files up to 50 MB are checked free, with no account.
- 02
Read the diagnosis
The tool checks the file's ZIP structure, every XML part and the links between them. It lists what it found and whether each problem was fixed.
- 03
Download the repaired copy
Press "Download repaired file" and open the copy in Word. Keep the original until you have checked the copy.
What it fixes
What DOCX repair can and can't fix
It fixes
- A missing or damaged file index
- The index at the end of the ZIP archive is rebuilt by reading each part directly.
- A file cut short
- When a download or save stopped early, everything before the cut is kept and the cut-off part is closed so it opens.
- Broken XML
- Tags left open, tags out of order, a stray & and characters XML forbids are fixed in every part, not just the one Word names.
- The content type list
- Missing or wrong entries in [Content_Types].xml are rebuilt from the parts in the file.
- Broken links between parts
- Duplicate ids, links to parts that are gone and references to links that no longer exist are cleaned up.
- Missing images
- An image that is gone is replaced with a blank, so the rest of the document opens.
- A file that isn't what its name says
- The tool reads the first bytes and tells you when a ".docx" is really a PDF, plain text or an old .doc.
It can't fix
- A file of 0 bytes
- There is no data left in it. Look for an earlier version, a backup or an emailed copy.
- Text after the cut
- If a file was cut short, what came after the cut was never saved and can't be rebuilt.
- Old .doc files
- Word 97 to 2003 files use a binary format. The tool recognizes them but repairs .docx only.
- Password-protected documents
- Their contents are encrypted. Open them in Word with the password.
- Content Word rejects for its own rules
- Valid XML that breaks one of Word's rules, such as elements in the wrong order. Try Word's Open and Repair.
An example
Before and after a repair
What Word says
- The file report.docx cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents.
- Details: Unspecified error
- Location: Part: /word/document.xml, Line: 2, Column: 4102
What the diagnosis says
- Repaired
- Unescaped & character word/document.xml (fixed)
- Characters XML doesn't allow word/document.xml (fixed)
In this example, a report exported from another program has an unescaped & and an invisible control character in its text. Word stops at the first one and refuses the whole file. The tool fixes both in place and writes a repaired copy with every paragraph, table and image still in it.
Under the hood
What's inside a .docx file
A .docx file is a ZIP archive: rename a copy to .zip and you can open it like a folder. Inside are XML files, plain text with tags, that hold the document, and a few small lists that tie them together.
Word refuses the whole file when one piece is missing, cut short or not valid XML, even though the text is usually still there. That's why a repair can save so much: the tool reads every part, fixes the structure around it and writes a new archive.
- [Content_Types].xml
- The list that tells Word what each part is.
- _rels/.rels
- Points Word to the main document.
- word/document.xml
- The text, the tables and where each picture goes.
- word/styles.xml
- Paragraph and character styles.
- word/_rels/document.xml.rels
- Links from the text to pictures, headers, footers and web links.
- word/media/
- The pictures themselves.
- word/header1.xml
- Headers and footers, one part each.
Private by design
Your file never leaves your computer
Most online repair tools upload your document to their servers. This one runs entirely in your browser: the file is read, repaired and saved on your own device. You can check it yourself. Open your browser's developer tools, go to the Network tab, and drop a file into the tool: no request carries it anywhere.
Repair a Word fileQuestions
Frequently asked questions
Is DOCX repair free?
Yes. The repair runs in your browser. Files up to 50 MB are checked free, with no account and no daily limit.
Is it safe to repair a Word document online?
Yes, because here the document never leaves your device. The repair code runs inside your browser tab and nothing is uploaded. We only count that a check ran, the file type it found, how many problems it found and how it ended, never the file name or what is in it. See the privacy policy.
What can the free repair fix?
Damage to the file's structure: a missing or broken file index, a file cut short during a download or save (everything up to the cut is kept), XML with unclosed tags, stray & characters or characters XML forbids, a missing or wrong content type list, broken links between parts, and links to images or parts that no longer exist. Missing images are replaced with a blank so the rest of the document opens.
My Word file won't open. Is it damaged?
Not always. First check whether other Word files open: if none do, the problem is Word itself, not the file. Then drop the file into the tool. It reads the first bytes, not the name, so it tells you when a ".docx" is really a PDF, a plain text file, an older .doc or a password-protected document. If it reports no damage, see word found unreadable content and there are problems with the contents for the fixes inside Word.
Can a 0 KB Word file be repaired?
No. A file of 0 bytes has no data left in it, so no tool can rebuild it. Look for the document somewhere else: an earlier version in your cloud storage, a copy you emailed, a backup, or an AutoRecover file in Word.
Does it repair EPUB and PDF files too?
Yes. Drop an .epub or a .pdf into the same tool: it reads the file type from the file itself and runs the right repair. See the epub validator and pdf repair for what each one checks.
Does it work with .doc files?
Not yet. Old .doc files (Word 97 to 2003) use a different, binary format. The tool recognizes them and tells you, but it repairs .docx, not .doc. Password-protected .docx files can't be repaired either, because their contents are encrypted.
What if the repair doesn't fix my file?
Try Word's own tools next: Open and Repair, then Recover Text from Any File. Both are explained step by step in word found unreadable content. If the tool says the main text of the document is missing or unreadable, the file most likely can't be rebuilt, and an earlier copy is your best option.