Word to Markdown converter (DOCX)

How to convert Word to Markdown

1. Drop the .docx file on the box, or select it from your files. Files up to 25 MB work. The converter loads when you add the first file and reads the document in your browser.
2. Check the summary. It counts the headings, tables and characters found. If it finds no headings, it tells you, because that is the most common problem with Word files (see below).
3. Copy or download. Download gives you a .md file with the same name as the Word file.

How the converter reads a Word file

A .docx file is a zip archive of XML files. The text is in one of them, and each paragraph carries a style name such as "Heading 2" or "List Paragraph". The converter uses mammoth.js to read that XML and turn the styles into HTML, then turns the HTML into Markdown with the same code Paperlink AI uses for website pages. Both steps run on your device.

Example

A short returns policy, with Heading 1 and Heading 2 styles, a bold phrase and a link, comes out like this:

# Returns policy

## How to return

Return items within **30 days**, *unused*.

Read the [full terms](https://example.com/returns).

Get the headings right

The converter reads styles, not looks. Many Word documents make headings by selecting a line and setting it bold and larger. To the converter that line is a bold paragraph, so you get **Shipping** and not ## Shipping. To fix it in Word:

1. Select the line that should be a heading.
2. On the Home tab, select Heading 1, Heading 2 or Heading 3 in the Styles group.
3. Do the same for each heading, save the file, and convert it again.

The Navigation Pane in Word (View, Navigation Pane) shows the headings Word knows about, so it is a quick check before you convert. The document title also needs a heading style: the Title style comes out as a plain paragraph, so use Heading 1 for it.

What it can and cannot do

• .docx only. The old .doc format is a binary file that this converter cannot read. Save it as .docx in Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs first. Password-protected files cannot be read either.
• No images. As data inside the Markdown, images would add thousands of characters. The result says how many images were left out, and keeps their alt text.
• No comments, page headers or layout. Comments are not included, and neither is the text in page headers and footers. Text boxes come out where they sit in the text. Columns, colors and fonts are not part of Markdown.
• Merged table cells are not kept. Check tables with merged headers by hand.
• Custom styles. A style your company made, such as "Policy Heading", is not a Word heading style, so it comes out as a paragraph. Change it to a built-in heading style, or base the custom style on one.

Your file stays on your device

Word files often hold contracts, internal procedures and customer data. This converter does not upload the file: the page loads the converter code, and the conversion runs in your browser tab. We record only that a conversion ran and whether it worked, never the file name or its content. Closing the tab removes the file and the result.

Why convert Word documents to Markdown

Markdown is plain text, so it works in docs repositories, static site generators, wikis and AI tools, and a change shows clearly in version control. For AI, the structure matters most. A system that answers from your documents splits them into passages, and a passage that starts at a real heading is easier to match with a question than a passage that starts in the middle of a bold line.

If you use Paperlink AI, you can upload the .docx file directly: it converts Word files the same way and answers customer questions only from your content. Convert first when you want to review or edit the text, or keep a Markdown copy in your docs. For other formats, use PDF to Markdown and HTML to Markdown, and to publish Markdown as a web page, use Markdown to HTML.