DOCX File Won't Open

What happens when you open the file is the first clue:

• "Word found unreadable content": damage Word may be able to recover. See Word found unreadable content.
• "There are problems with the contents": broken XML inside the file. See problems with the contents.
• "Word experienced an error trying to open the file": a blocked download, a setting, or damage. See Word experienced an error.
• Nothing happens, or the wrong app opens: the app linked to .docx files. See the chapter on the wrong app below.
• Garbled symbols: it isn't a Word document, or it is badly damaged. Check it in the repair tool above.

The repair tool above checks the file itself. If it reports no damage and a real .docx, the file is fine and the problem is the app or the computer.

Renaming a file doesn't change what is inside it. Files called .docx are sometimes:

• A PDF saved with the wrong name. Open it with a PDF reader.
• An old .doc file from Word 97 to 2003. Word opens it once the name ends in .doc.
• Plain text or HTML, often from a website export or a script. Open it in a text editor.
• A password-protected Word document. Word asks for the password; other apps can't open it at all.
• An empty file of 0 bytes, left by a download or save that failed. There is nothing to recover; look for another copy.

The tool above detects each of these and tells you what the file really is. Rename it with the right extension and open it in the right app.

A .docx file is a ZIP archive of XML files. It breaks when a download, copy, save or sync stops before the end, or when a program writes it with a mistake.

1. Keep a copy of the original.
2. Drop the file into the repair tool above. It rebuilds a broken file index, mends broken XML, rebuilds the content type list and the links between parts, and lists each change.
3. Download the repaired copy and open it.

If you have Word on Windows, Open and Repair is another option; the steps are in Word found unreadable content. If the file came by email, ask the sender to send it again. A fresh copy is often the fastest fix.

If double-clicking does nothing, or opens an app that can't read the file, the computer is sending .docx files to the wrong app.

• Open it from inside the app. Start Word, Pages, LibreOffice or another word processor, and use its Open command to pick the file. If it opens, the file is fine.
• Change the default app. On Windows, right-click the file and use Open with to choose your word processor. On a Mac, select the file and choose File, then Get Info. Under Open with, pick the app and click Change All.
• Install a word processor if you don't have one. Several free ones read .docx files.

Very old versions of Word, from 2003 and earlier, can't read .docx files at all without an add-on. Use a newer version or another app.

Mac

Pages, Word for Mac and TextEdit all open .docx files, each with its own code. If one rejects the file, try another; a file that opens anywhere can be saved again as a fresh .docx. If none open it, drop it into the repair tool above. It runs in Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

iPhone and iPad

Attachments open in a quick preview that can't show every document. Save the file to your device first, then open it in Pages or the Word app. The repair tool above also works in Safari on an iPhone or iPad: choose the saved file, then save the repaired copy.

Android

Android has no built-in word processor on many phones. Install one, such as the Word app or another office app, and open the file from it. If the app reports an error, run the file through the repair tool in your phone's browser and open the repaired copy.

App menus change between versions, so the exact buttons may differ on your device.

Many .docx files never touched Word: report generators, PDF converters, scripts and AI chat assistants build them directly. A small slip is enough for Word to refuse the file, such as an unescaped &, a tag left open, or a picture listed but missing.

These files are often fine apart from that one slip, which makes them good candidates for repair. Drop the file into the tool above; the diagnosis names the broken part, for example word/document.xml, and the repaired copy usually opens with everything in it.

If the file came from an AI assistant, asking it to create the file again can also work, but the new copy can have the same slip. More on this error in there are problems with the contents.