What's the cleanest free way to open a .docx file?

Word Online at office.com — sign in with a free Microsoft account and upload the file. Renders identically to desktop Word for most documents. Google Docs (drive.google.com → upload → open with Docs) is the other option; it converts to Google Docs format with some minor formatting drift.

Will tracked changes and comments survive in a free tool?

Tracked changes survive in Word Online. Google Docs imports comments correctly but tracked changes become 'suggestions', which is slightly different functionally — still useful, slightly different UX.

What about complex documents — references, equations, tables?

Standard tables, footnotes and bibliography references survive cleanly. Equation editor content sometimes drifts in Google Docs; Word Online is more faithful. For thesis or dissertation work, prefer Word Online over Google Docs.

File types · Word

.docx files after Office.

Your school Office licence ends with your account. Here's how to open the .docx files you took with you, free.

Best free option: Word Online

Sign in to office.com with a free personal Microsoft account. Upload the .docx, click Open. Edits in the browser, autosaves to your personal OneDrive. Free tier gives 5 GB of OneDrive space — plenty for personal documents.

Alternative: Google Docs

Upload to Google Drive (drive.google.com), right-click the file, Open with → Google Docs. Converts on import; the original .docx stays in Drive untouched. Some formatting drift on complex documents; fine for everyday writing.

Alternative: LibreOffice (desktop, free)

Install LibreOffice from libreoffice.org. Free, runs offline, opens .docx natively. Best when you need full editing power without an internet connection. UI feels older than modern Word/Docs; functionally complete.

Don't use

Quick Look / preview-only tools — they show the document but won't let you copy text reliably.
Old WordPad / TextEdit — these strip formatting and can corrupt documents on save.
“Free Word converters” from random websites — security risk; use the named tools above.

Archive recommendation

Keep the original .docx in your archive. Once a year or so, open a few and confirm they still render correctly in your current tool of choice. For documents you'll definitely never edit again — old coursework, finished essays — also export to PDF; PDFs are the most format-stable archive format.

Common questions

What's the cleanest free way to open a .docx file?: Word Online at office.com — sign in with a free Microsoft account and upload the file. Renders identically to desktop Word for most documents. Google Docs (drive.google.com → upload → open with Docs) is the other option; it converts to Google Docs format with some minor formatting drift.
Will tracked changes and comments survive in a free tool?: Tracked changes survive in Word Online. Google Docs imports comments correctly but tracked changes become 'suggestions', which is slightly different functionally — still useful, slightly different UX.
What about complex documents — references, equations, tables?: Standard tables, footnotes and bibliography references survive cleanly. Equation editor content sometimes drifts in Google Docs; Word Online is more faithful. For thesis or dissertation work, prefer Word Online over Google Docs.