Will it keep my document's formatting exactly?

No, and it is better to know that upfront. The file is converted to editable HTML, which carries basic formatting well but loses the finer typography, and complex layouts, columns and embedded objects do not survive. This is for reading and quick edits, not for producing a final document.

Is my Word file uploaded?

No. A .docx file is converted in the page by Mammoth, and an old .doc is read in the page too. That is the point of it for anything confidential - a contract or a reference you would not paste into a website.

Can it open an old .doc file?

Only roughly, unless it is really an RTF file saved with a .doc name, which opens with its formatting. The old binary .doc format is not converted: the viewer pulls out the readable text, without formatting, tables or pictures, and a few stray fragments of the file's internals can slip in. Open the file in Word or LibreOffice, save it as .docx, and open that here instead.

Why does it download as .doc rather than .docx?

The export writes a format Word opens reliably from HTML content. Open it in Word and save as .docx if you need the modern format.

Can it open a password-protected document?

No. It has to be decrypted first, in whatever program can already open it.

What happened to my images?

Simple embedded images usually come through; anything positioned or wrapped in a complex way will not. Check the result before relying on it.

Stays on your computer How this works

Free DOC and DOCX viewer

Open a .docx file, make quick edits, and download it again. Everything stays in your browser. An old .doc file gives only a rough scrape of its text.

Choose .doc / .docx file… or drag & drop a file here, or paste from clipboard

Editing happens locally and is sanitized — nothing is uploaded to any server.

About this Word document viewer

Opens a .docx file with its formatting - headings, lists, tables, bold and italic - allows quick edits, and downloads the result again or copies it out as HTML or text. An old .doc file is a different, binary format that this viewer cannot convert: all it gets is the readable text pulled out of the file, without formatting, tables or pictures, and a few stray fragments of the file's internals can slip in. Open it in Word or LibreOffice and save it as .docx first. A .doc that is really an RTF file, as WordPad and some web apps save them, opens with its formatting and pictures.

Enough to read and touch up a document on a machine without Word installed. 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 a .docx file with its headings, lists, tables, quotes, bold, italic, underline and highlighting
Edit a Word document in the browser: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, headings, quotes, lists and links, with undo and redo
Word and character count
Download it again as .doc for Word, as .html, or as plain .txt
Copy the text or the HTML
Open a file by dropping it, choosing it or pasting it from the clipboard

How to open and edit a Word file

Open a .docx file. Save an old .doc as .docx in Word or LibreOffice first.
Edit it with the toolbar - bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, headings, quotes, lists and links, with undo and redo.
Copy the text or the HTML if that is all you needed.
Download it again as .doc, .html or plain .txt.

Questions

Will it keep my document's formatting exactly?: No, and it is better to know that upfront. The file is converted to editable HTML, which carries basic formatting well but loses the finer typography, and complex layouts, columns and embedded objects do not survive. This is for reading and quick edits, not for producing a final document.
Is my Word file uploaded?: No. A .docx file is converted in the page by Mammoth, and an old .doc is read in the page too. That is the point of it for anything confidential - a contract or a reference you would not paste into a website.
Can it open an old .doc file?: Only roughly, unless it is really an RTF file saved with a .doc name, which opens with its formatting. The old binary .doc format is not converted: the viewer pulls out the readable text, without formatting, tables or pictures, and a few stray fragments of the file's internals can slip in. Open the file in Word or LibreOffice, save it as .docx, and open that here instead.
Why does it download as .doc rather than .docx?: The export writes a format Word opens reliably from HTML content. Open it in Word and save as .docx if you need the modern format.
Can it open a password-protected document?: No. It has to be decrypted first, in whatever program can already open it.
What happened to my images?: Simple embedded images usually come through; anything positioned or wrapped in a complex way will not. Check the result before relying on it.