Free ChemDraw viewer: open CDX and CDXML files online See a ChemDraw .cdx or .cdxml drawing without ChemDraw: structures, labels, charges, captions and reaction arrows, with each molecule's formula and weight, saved as SVG, PNG or MOL. Molfiles and SD files open too. The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded.
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About the ChemDraw viewer ChemDraw saves its drawings as .cdx (binary) or .cdxml (XML) files. They turn up as supporting information for papers, in lab notebooks and in emails from colleagues, and without ChemDraw there is little that opens them. Free chemistry programs read some of the molecules but not the drawing itself: the captions, arrows and layout.
This page reads both formats itself, from ChemDraw's published file format, and draws the page as it was laid out: bonds (double, triple, aromatic, wedged, hashed, wavy, bold and dashed), atom labels with their sub- and superscripts, charges, captions, reaction arrows (straight, curved, equilibrium and retrosynthetic), boxes, ovals, brackets and symbols. It lists each structure with its formula and molecular weight, and saves the drawing as SVG or PNG and the structures as MOL or SDF. MDL molfiles and SD files open as well. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.
What you can do Open ChemDraw .cdx and .cdxml files, from old versions to current ones See structures, labels, charges, captions and reaction arrows as laid out in ChemDraw Zoom in on a large scheme Get the molecular formula and weight of every structure Save the drawing as a sharp SVG or a high-resolution PNG Save one structure as a MOL file, or all of them as an SDF Open MDL molfiles (.mol, V2000 and V3000) and SD files (.sdf) How to open a CDX file Drop the .cdx or .cdxml file on the box above, or click the box and choose it. The drawing appears. Use Zoom to look closer. Use Save as SVG or Save as PNG for a picture, or Save MOL next to a structure to take it to another chemistry program. Questions
How do I open a CDX file without ChemDraw? Drop it on this page. It reads the binary CDX format (and the XML CDXML version) in your browser and draws the structures, text and arrows, with nothing to install and no account.
Can I convert a CDX file to PNG or SVG? Yes. Open it and press Save as PNG (about 300 dots per inch) or Save as SVG, which stays sharp at any size and opens in Word, PowerPoint, Inkscape and browsers.
Can I convert ChemDraw to a MOL file? Yes, structure by structure. Each one in the list has a Save MOL button, and Save structures as SDF writes them all in one file. Atom positions, charges, isotopes and wedge and hash bonds are kept; abbreviations such as Ph or OMe become labelled R atoms, because the drawing does not always spell them out.
Does the drawing look exactly as it does in ChemDraw? Close, but not identical. Fonts are replaced by the nearest ones your browser has, and some rarely used objects (TLC plates, spectra, tables, embedded Windows metafiles) are not drawn. In CDX files, pictures pasted in as PNG, JPEG or GIF are shown.
Can I edit the structure here? No. This page views and converts; it does not edit. Save the structure as MOL and open it in a free editor if you need to change it.
Is my ChemDraw file uploaded? No. It is read by this browser tab on your device and never sent anywhere, which matters for unpublished compounds.