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How to Import .docx Documents in WordPress

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Do you like writing in Microsoft Word instead of WordPress? Want to import the .docx document in WordPress instead of copying / pasting which usually messes up the formatting? In this article, we will show you how to import .docx documents in WordPress.

Docx to WordPress

Why and When You Need to Properly Import .docx Files in WordPress?

Some users prefer to write their articles in Microsoft Word, which comes with a built-in spell check, thesaurus, templates, styles and formatting. The default WordPress visual editor does not offer all these features.

Another possible usage scenario is guest blogging. If you do not want to give guest authors access to your WordPress admin area, then they often send their guest posts either in plain HTML or a .docx document.

Lastly, you may already have some content saved in .docx documents. Copying and pasting from docx can be difficult, specially if you have to copy content from multiple documents.

Having said that, let’s see how you can properly import .docx documents in WordPress without breaking formatting.

Importing .docx Documents in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Mammoth .docx converter plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to create a new post or edit an existing one. On the post edit screen, you will find the Mammoth .docx converter metabox below the post editor.

Mammoth docx converter in WordPress

Simply click on the choose file button to select a .docx file from your computer.

As soon as you select the .docx file, the plugin will show you three views for the documents. In the Visual tab, you will see how the document will look in WordPress.

Preview converted document

You will notice that it will ignore any styles applied to your .docx documents such as text color, background color, padding, margin, etc. Instead, it will let your theme’s stylesheet control how to display those things.

You can also view the HTML generated by the converter by clicking on the Raw HTML button. You can click on the messages button to see if there were any warnings or errors during conversion.

If you are satisfied with how the document looks in the visual tab, then you can click on the ‘Insert into editor’ button. The plugin will insert converted HTML into your WordPress post editor.

You can continue to work on the post. If you are new to WordPress, then you may want to see our guide on how to add a new post in WordPress and utilize all the features.

Mammoth .docx converter plugin converts a .docx file into a clean HTML format compatible with WordPress. Currently, the plugin supports the following features:

  • Headings like Heading 1, Heading 2, are converted into h1,h2, etc.
  • Lists
  • Tables are imported without formating like border and cell colors
  • Plain HTML formating like bold, italic, superscript, and subscript
  • Images embedded in document are imported into WordPress
  • Links
  • Textboxes are converted into plain paragraphs

The plugin does not make any changes to your original .docx document, it does not even store it on your WordPress site.

We hope this article helped you import .docx documents in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to embed PDF, spreadsheet, and other documents in WordPress.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

25 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

    Hey WPBeginner readers,
    Did you know you can win exciting prizes by commenting on WPBeginner?
    Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
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  2. malcolm brigden says

    What this comment coyly neglects to mention is that you cannot use this plug in without having the $250 plan, as I found out to my chagrin after having read it and assumed the functionality I needed would be there with my $120 plan- I wonder what this chap was paid not to have mentioned this key fact in the first paragraph

    Malcolm Brigden MD

  3. Ahmed says

    I would like to know why when using plugin the other plugin like mammoth , which is docspress which import word press with all details as a short code , why the content is not appearing at all in SEO ENGINES as google

    • WPBeginner Support says

      For issues with a specific plugin, you would want to reach out to the support for that specific plugin and they should be able to assist.

      Admin

  4. Stefaan says

    Are there any alternative plugins to use? Mammoth dockx converter no longer works after update.

  5. Marty says

    WordPress support installed this plug in and it does not input the images in the posts. It is no different than cutting and pasting. And actually it is more time consuming.

  6. Munna says

    Agree with Yoda. Just copy the article from wordpress and paste it on Visual editor . You don’t need any plugin for this.

  7. Ravinder says

    Hi Syed,

    I do not comment often on blog but today I got to upload blog post fast from .docx but didn’t know how to do it. Then I started searching on google and after 4 5 useless blog I came to this page and got answer to how to do it. Thanks :)

  8. Ted Sherwood says

    So glad I am signed up to your posts. I just finished a post in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Thanks.

  9. Hemang Rindani says

    There are two basic ways to export MS doc files to WordPress Content Management system, one through native server and two, with the help of FTP. Apart from this, WP also has some plugins where mammoth .docx converter is the one with maximum popularity. The effortless dashboard with this plugin makes it easier for a developer to transfer a .docx file to WP without losing the formatting of the file.

  10. Beni Iskandar says

    Thank you for this awesome trick, I write my raw article on notepad++ because when you block some of word in this app, you can check how many keyword and where you put it on paragraph .. Hmm it would be great if there build in word count tools.

  11. yuda says

    In what way is this different than a simple copy-paste from Word/Google Docs?

    It used to be that such direct copy/paste carried with it a lot of garbage – especially office-generated XML – plus a lot of visual hiccups. Nowadays this is not the case, at least not in 99% of the cases. So why still use a dedicated plugin? Am I missing something?

  12. farhang says

    wow!
    great article, im one of your fans that come to your website every day. best wp learning base ever

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