Can Microsoft Word open ODT files?

Yes. Word can open and save ODT files, and has been able to for a long time, though it treats ODT as a secondary import/export format rather than its native one, which is where any subtle formatting drift on complex documents tends to come from.

Is ODT less capable than DOCX?

No. Both formats cover essentially the same ground: styles, tables, images, footnotes and tracked changes. The practical difference is in how completely each office suite implements the format it doesn't consider its own, not a gap in either specification.

Will converting a DOCX to ODT lose any formatting?

Simple documents convert cleanly. Complex ones (heavy use of Word-specific features, intricate style hierarchies, elaborate cross-references) can see small shifts, such as a table border or spacing adjusting slightly, because the two formats express the same visual result in different internal structures.

Why do some governments require ODF formats like ODT?

Because ODF is an open, ISO-standardised format (ISO/IEC 26300) governed by a multi-vendor consortium rather than one company, public bodies concerned with long-term, software-independent access to official records often specify it in procurement policy, so archived documents remain readable regardless of which vendor's software exists decades later.

DOCX vs ODT: The Office Default vs the Open Standard

By Andrew Butson · July 2, 2026 · 7 min read

For most people, most of the time, DOCX is the safer choice when you don't know what the recipient uses: it's the default in Microsoft Word, and every major alternative, including LibreOffice and Google Docs, opens it without complaint. ODT is the better choice when you work primarily in LibreOffice or OpenOffice, or when a document needs to stay on an open, vendor-neutral standard for the long term, which is exactly why some public-sector and government bodies specify it in procurement policy.

Both are capable, modern document formats. Neither is "worse" in raw features. The friction between them comes from translation, not deficiency: two rich formats describing the same styles, tables and footnotes in different internal vocabularies rarely round-trip with perfect fidelity.

DOCX is Microsoft's Office Open XML document format, introduced with Office 2007 to replace the old, single opaque binary .doc file. ODT is OpenDocument Text, adopted by the OASIS consortium in 2005 as the native format of LibreOffice and the earlier OpenOffice. Structurally the two are close cousins: both are a ZIP archive of XML files describing the text, styling and embedded media, and both have been ratified as international standards: DOCX as ISO/IEC 29500, ODT as ISO/IEC 26300.

That shared architecture is why the comparison is really about ecosystem and governance rather than raw capability. DOCX is a single company's format, opened to the world through standardisation; ODT was designed from the outset as a vendor-neutral standard governed by a multi-party consortium. Both cover the same ground, such as headings, styles, tables, images, footnotes and tracked changes, which is what makes the choice between them a question of who you're sending the file to, not what the file can hold.

DOCX vs ODT at a glance
	DOCX	ODT
Full name	Office Open XML Document	OpenDocument Text
Governed by	Microsoft, via ECMA and ISO	OASIS consortium
Released	2007 (Office 2007)	2005
ISO standard	ISO/IEC 29500	ISO/IEC 26300
Underlying structure	ZIP archive of XML parts	ZIP archive of XML parts
Native default in	Microsoft Word	LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice
Opens in the other suite	Yes, natively in recent Word	Yes, natively in recent LibreOffice/OpenOffice
Round-trip fidelity risk	Minor drift on complex features when opened elsewhere	Minor drift on complex features when opened in Word
Favoured for	Broad, everyday compatibility	Long-term, vendor-neutral archiving; public-sector policy

Two office formats, both now open standards

It's easy to assume DOCX is 'the proprietary one' and ODT is 'the open one', but both have actually passed through formal international standardisation: DOCX as ISO/IEC 29500 and ODT as ISO/IEC 26300. What genuinely differs is who steers each specification's future. ODT is maintained by OASIS, a multi-vendor, not-for-profit consortium, so no single company controls its roadmap. DOCX's core specification is also open and published, but Microsoft leads its development and its own products are, unsurprisingly, always the most complete implementation of it.

Before either format existed, Word's native format was the old binary .doc, a single opaque blob that only Microsoft's own code could reliably parse. Both DOCX and ODT were responses to the same underlying shift in the industry: replacing closed binary document formats with inspectable, standards-based XML packages that any suite could implement independently.

The Office default: DOCX

DOCX has been Microsoft Word's default save format since Office 2007, and that alone accounts for most of its reach: decades of institutional and personal habit mean it's the format the majority of the world's word-processed documents arrive in. Beyond Word itself, DOCX is read and written natively by Google Docs, Apple Pages, LibreOffice and effectively every other serious word processor, which makes it the closest thing document exchange has to a universal default. When you genuinely don't know what software the person on the other end is running, DOCX is the safer bet purely on the numbers.

The open standard: ODT

ODT is the native format of LibreOffice Writer and the older Apache OpenOffice, and it exists specifically to do everything a Word document does, such as styles, tables, images, footnotes and tracked changes, without being tied to any single vendor's roadmap. That vendor independence is precisely why it appeals to organisations concerned with long-term document access: several public-sector and government procurement policies around the world favour open, ISO-standardised formats like ODF for exactly this reason, since a document saved today should still be legible by software that exists in twenty years, regardless of which company is still trading.

Microsoft Word can open and save ODT files, and has been able to for a long time, but it treats ODT as a secondary format rather than its native one — the reverse of how it treats DOCX.

Real-world fidelity friction

The friction people actually run into when moving a document between Word and LibreOffice, such as a table border that shifts slightly, a style that gets remapped, or a header/footer that reflows, isn't a sign that either format is broken. It's the ordinary cost of translating between two independently designed, equally rich vocabularies for describing the same visual result. Simple documents, plain paragraphs, basic headings and standard formatting, round-trip essentially perfectly between DOCX and ODT in either direction. Complex documents with advanced Word-specific features, elaborate cross-references, or heavily customised styles are where small differences are most likely to appear, precisely because those features sit furthest from what the two specifications agree on.

Which to send when you don't know the recipient's software

As a working rule: send DOCX by default, because the odds favour the recipient having something that opens it natively, whether that's Word itself or another suite's DOCX-compatible import. Send or request ODT specifically when you know the destination is LibreOffice or OpenOffice, when a public-sector or open-standards policy requires it, or when the document is going into long-term archival storage where vendor independence matters more than day-to-day convenience. Neither choice is a mistake — they're optimised for different priorities, immediate compatibility versus long-term openness.

Use DOCX when…

You don't know what software the recipient uses.
You are collaborating within an organisation standardised on Microsoft Office.
The document needs to work with Word-specific add-ins, macros or templates.
You are sharing broadly with clients, colleagues or the general public.

Use ODT when…

You work primarily in LibreOffice or OpenOffice.
A public-sector or open-standards procurement policy specifies ODF.
You want a vendor-neutral format for long-term document archiving.
You are contributing to an open-source project that standardises on ODF.

Convert DOCX to ODT

Morphr converts a Word document to ODT in your browser, keeping headings, styles, tables and images intact, nothing is uploaded.

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

Can Microsoft Word open ODT files?: Yes. Word can open and save ODT files, and has been able to for a long time, though it treats ODT as a secondary import/export format rather than its native one, which is where any subtle formatting drift on complex documents tends to come from.
Is ODT less capable than DOCX?: No. Both formats cover essentially the same ground: styles, tables, images, footnotes and tracked changes. The practical difference is in how completely each office suite implements the format it doesn't consider its own, not a gap in either specification.
Will converting a DOCX to ODT lose any formatting?: Simple documents convert cleanly. Complex ones (heavy use of Word-specific features, intricate style hierarchies, elaborate cross-references) can see small shifts, such as a table border or spacing adjusting slightly, because the two formats express the same visual result in different internal structures.
Why do some governments require ODF formats like ODT?: Because ODF is an open, ISO-standardised format (ISO/IEC 26300) governed by a multi-vendor consortium rather than one company, public bodies concerned with long-term, software-independent access to official records often specify it in procurement policy, so archived documents remain readable regardless of which vendor's software exists decades later.

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