Word to TXT Converter

What is Word to TXT Conversion?

Word to TXT conversion is the process of extracting plain text content from a Microsoft Word document. During conversion, all formatting is removed: fonts, styles, colors, tables, and images. Only the text remains with paragraph and line breaks preserved.

Word is Microsoft's word processor that saves documents in the DOCX format. The DOCX format was introduced in 2007 with the Office 2007 suite. It is based on the Office Open XML standard and is essentially a ZIP archive containing XML files. DOCX supports rich formatting: fonts, styles, tables, images, headers and footers, footnotes, and other layout elements.

TXT (Plain Text) is the simplest text storage format, existing since the early days of computing. A text file contains only characters and line breaks without any formatting. TXT files can be opened by any text editor on any operating system: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.

PEREFILE extracts text from Word documents while preserving paragraph structure and proper UTF-8 encoding for correct display of English and other languages.

Comparison of Word (DOCX) and TXT Formats

These formats serve different purposes and have fundamental differences:

The main difference: DOCX stores a structured document with formatting, TXT stores only plain text. Conversion to TXT is a way to get the document content without the "wrapper".

When You Need Word to TXT Conversion

Extracting Text for Processing

Text analysis programs, search engines, and processing scripts work with plain text:

• Document search - indexing the content of multiple files for quick searching
• Statistics calculation - word count, character count, unique terms
• Machine learning - preparing text data for model training
• Document comparison - identifying content differences without considering formatting

When working with large archives of Word documents, extracting text to TXT simplifies automated processing and search.

Preparing Content for Publishing

Web editors and CMS platforms work better with plain text:

• Website publishing - eliminating hidden Word formatting that breaks layouts
• CMS upload - WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and other systems accept plain text more reliably
• Email newsletters - text versions of emails require content without formatting
• Messaging apps - sending text to Slack, Teams, Discord

Copying text directly from Word often transfers hidden styles that disrupt display. Conversion to TXT guarantees clean text.

Reducing File Size

A text file is significantly more compact than a Word document:

• Media removal - images and diagrams are not included in TXT
• No formatting data - no font, style, or layout information
• Simple structure - only characters and line breaks
• Fast transfer - smaller size speeds up network transmission

For storing large volumes of textual information, TXT format saves space.

Ensuring Compatibility

TXT is readable everywhere without special software:

• Legacy computers - text files open on any hardware
• Mobile devices - no need to install Microsoft Office
• Servers and terminals - working with text files in command line
• Long-term storage - TXT will never become obsolete, files from the 1980s still open today

When guaranteed readability on any device matters, TXT is the optimal choice.

Security and Privacy

Text files contain no hidden information:

• Metadata removal - author name, organization, modification dates are not preserved
• No macros - impossible to embed malicious code
• Content transparency - in TXT you see everything that is in the file
• Revision history - not preserved, unlike DOCX with track changes enabled

For sharing text without revealing internal information, conversion to TXT is a simple solution.

How DOCX to TXT Conversion Works

The text extraction process includes several stages:

Stage 1: Document Upload

The user uploads a DOCX file through the website form. The system accepts documents of any size within the plan limits. Transfer occurs over a secure HTTPS channel.

Stage 2: Document Structure Analysis

The service parses the DOCX file content, identifying text elements:

• Main document text
• Headings and subheadings
• Lists and enumerations
• Table cell contents
• Footnotes and comments
• Headers and footers (if needed)

Stage 3: Text Extraction

Text content is extracted from each document element:

• Paragraphs are separated by blank lines
• Headings are distinguished with line breaks
• Lists are converted while preserving bullets or numbering
• Tables are converted to text representation
• Formatting (bold, italic) is removed

Stage 4: Saving the Result

The finished text is saved in UTF-8 encoding:

• Correct display of all languages
• Special character support
• Universal line breaks
• File available for download immediately after processing

Conversion Specifics

When extracting text from Word, it is important to understand what happens to different document elements.

What is Preserved in TXT

• All document text - main content completely preserved
• Paragraph structure - text division into logical blocks
• Line breaks - splitting into lines and paragraphs
• Table contents - text from all cells
• List numbering - order of list items
• Footnotes - footnote text at the end of document

What is Lost During Conversion

• Fonts and sizes - all text becomes uniform
• Bold, italic, underline - emphasis is not preserved
• Text and background colors - TXT does not support colors
• Images and graphics - media files are not included
• Table formatting - borders, shading, column widths
• Hyperlinks - only link text remains, not the URL
• Headers and footers - page headers and footers
• Page numbering - relates to print representation

Alternatives to PEREFILE Conversion

Microsoft Word

In Word itself you can save a document as a text file:

• File -> Save As -> Plain Text (.txt)
• Choose encoding (UTF-8 recommended)

Drawbacks: requires Microsoft Office license, need to open each file manually.

Copy via Clipboard

A simple way to get the text:

• Open document in Word
• Select all (Ctrl+A)
• Copy (Ctrl+C)
• Paste into text editor (Ctrl+V)

Drawbacks: may preserve hidden formatting, inconvenient for multiple files.

Google Docs

Upload document to Google Docs and download as TXT:

• Upload DOCX to Google Drive
• Open in Google Docs
• File -> Download -> Plain Text

Drawbacks: requires Google account, document is uploaded to cloud.

PEREFILE Online Service

Advantages:

• No software installation required
• Works in any browser
• Fast processing
• Correct UTF-8 encoding by default
• Privacy - files are deleted after processing

Who Needs Word to TXT Conversion

Copywriters and Editors

Professionals working with text:

• Cleaning text from client formatting
• Preparing materials for website publishing
• Checking text in specialized editors
• Working with different platforms and CMS

Developers and Analysts

Technical professionals:

• Extracting data for script processing
• Creating datasets for machine learning
• Indexing documents for search
• Storing texts in version control systems (Git)

Students and Educators

Working with educational materials:

• Quick information search in notes
• Copying quotes without formatting
• Creating knowledge bases for exam preparation
• Checking texts for plagiarism

Office Workers

Everyday tasks:

• Sending text to colleagues without Microsoft Office
• Extracting text from reports for summary documents
• Removing confidential metadata
• Reducing file sizes for email attachments

Technical Aspects

Character Encoding

Modern text files are saved in UTF-8 encoding:

• Support for all world languages
• English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic - all in one file
• Special characters and emoji
• Compatibility with modern software

If you see unreadable characters when opening TXT - check the encoding settings in your editor.

Line Endings

Different operating systems use different line break characters:

• Windows: CR+LF (carriage return + line feed)
• macOS and Linux: LF (line feed only)
• Old macOS: CR (carriage return only)

PEREFILE creates files with universal line endings that display correctly on all platforms.

Special Character Handling

Word documents may contain special characters:

• Non-breaking spaces - converted to regular spaces
• Soft hyphens - removed
• Typographic quotes - preserved or replaced with standard ones
• Page break characters - removed

History of the TXT Format

The text format appeared alongside the first computers in the 1960s. It is based on ASCII encoding (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), which defines 128 characters: Latin letters, digits, punctuation marks, and control characters.

As computers evolved, extended encodings appeared for other languages: ISO-8859 for European languages, and various regional encodings. This created compatibility problems - a file created in one encoding displayed incorrectly in another.

The solution was Unicode and its UTF-8 implementation, which appeared in 1992. UTF-8 is compatible with ASCII and supports all world languages. Today it is the standard encoding for text files.

Despite the development of complex document formats, TXT remains in demand:

• Programmers store source code in text files
• System administrators work with configurations and logs
• Writers appreciate the absence of distracting formatting
• Archivists choose TXT for long-term storage

Simplicity is the main advantage of the format. Files created decades ago open without problems on modern computers.