Every Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file you save is actually a ZIP archive packed with small XML files. That means you can crack open any .docx, .xlsx, or .pptx file using nothing more than Windows Explorer or a free compression tool, no special software required. Whether you want to see which fonts are embedded in a document, investigate why a file is behaving strangely, or simply satisfy your curiosity about what Office is doing behind the scenes, this simple four-step method gives you a clear view of everything inside.
Very occasionally it’s helpful or necessary to dig into the structure of an Office document. Maybe you’re trying to figure out why a document is misbehaving or to get a list of all the fonts used.
Look inside Office file .docx .xlsx .pptx
Many Office users can go through their entire life without needing to open a Microsoft Office file, but if you ever do, here’s how.
- Copy any .docx .xlsx .pptx or other modern Office file
- Not password protected.
- Make a copy of the document, leave the original safely intact.
- Rename the file to .zip ending.
- That will allow any compression program or Windows/Mac to open the file and view the contents.
- For example.
OfficeWatch.docxrenames toOfficeWatch.docx.zip - All modern Office documents with four letter extensions (docx, xlsx etc) are really ZIP compressed files.
- Extract the file contents to your computer in a separate folder.
- Any compression program will do, WinZIP, 7zip, WinRAR (long time Office Watch recommendation) or the simple unpacking tool in Windows or Mac.
- In Windows, right-click on any .ZIP file choose Extract All … and follow the wizard. That will unzip all the files into a new folder.
- View the small files that make up a modern Office document.
- Mostly XML (text) files that can be opened in Notebook or other text editor.
- Look for a sub-folder with the name of the app; Word, Excel etc … Here’s a sample Word document contents.
Document.xml contains the document text etc itself
fontTable.xml has a list of all fonts used
styles.xml lists all the styles in the document.
OpenDocument format too
You can do the same thing with OpenDocument ODF files like .odt documents.
Look, rarely touch
This trick is great for looking inside Office documents but editing the XML files is rarely needed or wise. The structure of Office docs is complicated and interconnected, changing the raw contents might break something.
Myth Busting about Office document formats
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List fonts in a Word document: method 2
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