Convert XPS to Word

XPS is a fixed-layout format — it preserves the exact appearance of a printed page but was never designed to be edited. Word is the opposite: a reflowable, editable document format. Converting between them is always a two-step process, and it comes with real caveats about layout fidelity. This page explains the honest route.

This converter handles the first step: XPS to PDF. Once you have a PDF, Microsoft Word (2013 and later) can open it directly and attempt to reconstruct an editable document. For scanned or image-based XPS files, you will need OCR.

Why you cannot open XPS directly in Word

Microsoft Word can write XPS (via Save As in older versions), but it cannot read XPS. Attempting to open an .xps file in Word produces a misleading “file is corrupted or cannot be opened” error. This is not a bug; XPS simply is not a Word input format.

The same applies to LibreOffice Writer: it can open XPS read-only for viewing, but does not convert it to an editable ODF or DOCX document.

The two-step route: XPS → PDF, then PDF → Word

The reliable approach is:

Upload your .xps file here and choose PDF output. The resulting PDF preserves selectable text and embeds the original fonts.
Open the PDF in Microsoft Word 2013 or later. Word will prompt you that it is converting the PDF to an editable document — click OK. For short, simple documents this often produces a usable result.

Word’s PDF import works best on text-heavy documents with straightforward layouts. Tables, columns, and text boxes frequently come out misaligned or merged. Treat the result as a starting point for editing, not a pixel-perfect reproduction.

Step 1: Convert Your XPS to PDF

Up to 20 files at once · 25 MB per file · no watermark · files deleted within 60 minutes.

Layout fidelity: what to expect

Fixed-layout formats like XPS store the precise position of every character on a page. Word’s document model is flow-based: text wraps to fit the page margins and reflowing is expected. The conversion process has to make assumptions, and those assumptions are often wrong:

Columns may be merged into a single column of text, with both columns concatenated.
Tables are often reconstructed as tab-separated text rather than proper Word tables.
Headers and footers may appear as inline text.
Fonts that are not installed on your system may be substituted, which shifts line breaks.

For forms, invoices, and multi-column layouts, manual tidying after conversion is almost always needed.

Scanned XPS files: you need OCR

Some XPS files are image-based — the document was printed to XPS from a scanned image, so the pages are rasterised pictures with no selectable text underneath. Converting these to PDF gives you a PDF of images; opening that in Word gives uneditable pictures, not text.

To get editable text from a scanned XPS:

Convert to PDF here (this step is still useful as it normalises the file).
Run the PDF through an OCR tool. Adobe Acrobat Pro has built-in OCR (“Recognise Text”). Free alternatives include OCRmyPDF (command-line, open source) and several online services. Google Drive will also OCR a PDF if you open it in Google Docs.
Once the text layer exists, open the OCR’d PDF in Word.

You can confirm whether your XPS has selectable text by converting to PDF here and trying to select text in a PDF reader before committing to the full route.

Alternative: LibreOffice Writer

If you do not have Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer can also open a PDF and attempt to extract editable content via its Draw import route: open the PDF in LibreOffice Draw, then copy the text into Writer. Results are similar to Word’s PDF import — adequate for simple documents, approximate for complex ones.

LibreOffice is free and available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Frequently asked questions

Can I open an XPS file directly in Microsoft Word?

No. Word cannot read XPS. Attempting to open one gives a file-corrupted error. The correct route is XPS to PDF (using this tool), then open the PDF in Word 2013 or later.

Does Word do a good job converting PDF to DOCX?

For simple, text-only documents it is reasonable. For multi-column layouts, tables, forms, or documents with heavy formatting, expect significant manual clean-up. Word’s conversion is a best-effort reconstruction, not a perfect translation.

My XPS has no selectable text — what do I do?

It is likely image-based. Convert to PDF here, then run the PDF through an OCR tool such as OCRmyPDF, Adobe Acrobat Pro, or Google Docs (which OCRs PDFs on upload). After OCR, open in Word.

Will the fonts look correct in the Word document?

Only if those fonts are installed on your system. If the XPS embeds a custom or corporate font that your machine lacks, Word will substitute a fallback font, which shifts line lengths and may break the layout.

Is there a tool that converts XPS straight to DOCX in one step?

Not a widely available free one. The XPS→PDF→Word route using this converter plus Microsoft Word is the most accessible two-step path. Some enterprise document-processing services offer direct XPS→DOCX conversion.

Last updated: June 2026