What Is an OXPS File?

An OXPS file (extension .oxps) is an OpenXPS document — a fixed-layout page format standardised by ECMA International as ECMA-388 in 2009. If you are on Windows 8 or later and have ever printed to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer, the file it created was almost certainly an .oxps, not an .xps. The two formats are closely related but not identical.

ECMA-388 and the OpenXPS standard

Microsoft's original XPS format shipped with Windows Vista in 2006 as a proprietary specification. Three years later, ECMA International published ECMA-388 — the Open XML Paper Specification (OpenXPS) — turning the core ideas into an open, vendor-neutral standard. The extension .oxps distinguishes ECMA-388 documents from the older, Microsoft-proprietary .xps files.

Like its predecessor, an OXPS file is a ZIP archive built on Open Packaging Conventions (OPC). Inside you will find XAML markup for each page, an OPC manifest, and embedded fonts and images. Renaming an .oxps to .zip and extracting it reveals that folder structure directly.

Windows 8 and the switch to .oxps as default

Starting with Windows 8, the Microsoft XPS Document Writer virtual printer outputs .oxps by default instead of .xps. Windows 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 can all read both formats. The practical consequence is that documents created on a modern Windows machine will have the .oxps extension, while older documents from Vista- or 7-era machines typically use .xps.

There is no Settings option inside the XPS Document Writer to switch the default output extension — the format is determined by the driver version bundled with the OS.

How .oxps differs from .xps in practice

For most users the differences are minor:

• Extension: .oxps vs .xps. Windows associates both with the XPS Viewer (when installed).
• Standard: OXPS follows ECMA-388; the original XPS follows Microsoft's own spec. The ECMA version tightened several ambiguities in the markup.
• Compatibility: Some older third-party tools that predate ECMA-388 only handle .xps. If a tool refuses your file, it may be the extension — not the content — causing the problem.

See the full comparison on the OXPS vs XPS page.

How to open or convert an OXPS file

On Windows, the optional XPS Viewer handles .oxps files the same as .xps. See the Windows 11 install guide if you need to add it. From the XPS Viewer you can also print to Microsoft Print to PDF to produce a PDF without third-party software.

Outside Windows — macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Chrome OS — there is no built-in OXPS reader. Converting to PDF is the practical route. XPS2PDF.co.uk accepts both .xps and .oxps up to 25 MB per file. For a broader overview of viewing options across platforms, see How to view an XPS file.

Frequently asked questions

Is an OXPS file the same as an XPS file?

They are very similar — both are fixed-layout ZIP/OPC documents with XAML pages — but .oxps follows the open ECMA-388 standard, while .xps follows Microsoft's proprietary spec from 2006. Windows reads both formats without distinction.

Why did I get an .oxps file instead of .xps?

If you are on Windows 8 or later and printed to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer, the driver outputs .oxps by default. That is expected behaviour, not an error.

Can I rename .oxps to .xps to make it open?

Sometimes, but it is not reliable. The two formats are closely related but not identical. If a viewer refuses the renamed file, convert it to PDF instead — that is a more universal and durable format.

Does XPS2PDF.co.uk accept .oxps files?

Yes. Upload an .oxps file the same way as an .xps. The converter handles both extensions.

What is ECMA-388?

ECMA-388 is the Open XML Paper Specification standard published by ECMA International in 2009. It formalises the OpenXPS (.oxps) document format as an open standard independent of Microsoft.

Last updated: June 2026