How to Convert a Word Document to HTML: A Quick Guide

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If you have Microsoft Word on your computer, you can resave the DOC/DOCX file as an HTML file without installing additional software. If you don't have Word or prefer a free online option, you can upload the document to Google Drive and save it as an HTML file. Or, paste the contents of the Word file into a converter like Word 2 Clean HTML. Since Word documents and HTML files are very different, the finished HTML webpage may not contain the same formatting as the original. This wikiHow will show you how to convert a Word document to HTML on your Windows PC or Mac.

Things You Should Know

In Microsoft Word, go to File > Save As. Change the file type to Web Page.
For Google Drive, upload and open the Word file in Google Docs. Then, go to File > Download > Web Page.
Try an HTML conversion web app like Word 2 Clean HTML for additional automatic formatting options.

Method 1 of 3:

Using Microsoft Word

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If you’re looking for general HTML tips, check out how to create a simple web page, create a link, and make radio buttons.

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\n"> Click the File menu. It's at the top-left corner of Word. Advertisement

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\n"> Click Save As . A list of locations will appear.

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\n"> Select a location. You can save the file to any folder on your computer (or a cloud drive).

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\n"> Type a name for the file. Enter the name in the textbox next to “File name:”.

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If you're okay with losing some of the advanced layout code in favor of a simpler file, select Web Page, Filtered instead. This keeps only the style instructions, content, and some other info.

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\n"> Click Save . A new version of the file is now saved in the HTML format. Advertisement Method 2 of 3:

Using Google Drive

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Go to https://www.google.com/drive in a web browser. Then click Go to Drive. As long as you have a Google account, you can use Google Drive to convert a Word document to a web page.

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\n"> Click the + New button. It's at the top-left corner of Google Drive.

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\n"> Click File upload . It's the second option.

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\n"> Select your Word document and click Open . This uploads the Word document to your Google Drive.

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\n"> Right-click the Word document in Google Drive. A pop-up context menu will open.

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\n"> Click Open with . Another menu will expand.

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\n"> Click Google Docs . The contents of your Word document will display in Google Docs.

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Click the File menu in Google Docs. It's just below the file name at the top-left corner of the document.

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\n"> Click Download . Additional menu options will appear.

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Click Web Page . This allows you to save the .docx as an HTML zipped file. If prompted to do so, click Save or OK to start the download.

Advertisement Method 3 of 3:

Using Word 2 Clean HTML

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Go to https://word2cleanhtml.com in a web browser. Word 2 Clean HTML is a free, easy-to-use tool that will take the contents of a Word document and convert it to HTML code.

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Open the Word document you want to convert. If you have Microsoft Word, open the document in that application. If not, you can either use the free version of Word located at https://www.office.com to open the file, or a Word alternative like Google Drive.

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Copy the contents of the Word file to the clipboard. Press the Control and A keys (PC) or Command and A keys (Mac) at the same time to highlight everything in the file, right-click the highlighted area, and then click Copy.

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Paste the copied text into the Word to Clean HTML field. Right-click the typing area and select Paste to paste the selected content.

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Adjust your HTML preferences below the form. Use the checkboxes at the bottom of the page to toggle conversion preferences, such as converting Word's Smart Quotes to regular ASCII quotes.

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To see the regular HTML (not "cleaned up") from the conversion, click the Original HTML tab.
To see a preview of how the code would look in a web browser, click the Preview tab.
To copy the code so you can paste it elsewhere, click the Copy cleaned HTML to clipboard link at the top of the page.

Community Q&A

What do I do if I did this accidentally and really want to delete it now? Community Answer

If you want to delete it, right-click on it and click delete. If you want to change it back, rename the file extension from randomfile.html to randomfile.docx.

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I want to convert a Word document with controls (text box) to an HTML file, which has those controls. How do I do this?

Community Answer Change the ending from whatever it is (ex: .txt) to .html (ex: .html).

If I save a Word document as a web page using HTML, will it have an URL? Community Answer Yes it will because you are basically making a website and all websites have a URL.

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If you have to convert hundreds of files to HTML, use commercial software that can convert them all at once. Some options are Doc Converter Pro (formerly Word Cleaner) and NCH Doxillion.

It is not always possible to keep all of your Word formatting and styles during the conversion, and still have the HTML file display consistently on all browsers. You might need to use CSS to achieve this on your website.

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