The Ultimate guide to converting Word documents to HTML

In this guide, we will explore all the various ways for you to convert Word documents to HTML. We are experts at converting Microsoft Word documents to HTML with over 20 years of experience. We have several tools to help you convert and process your documents to clean HTML:

  1. Word To HTML – our Web App is great for quick clean-ups (paste content and process), uploading Word documents, and converting them to HTML
  2. Doc Converter Pro Desktop – the perfect choice for document batch converting on Windows Desktop
  3. Doc Converter Pro Web App – the best choice if you need to bulk convert and process documents online
  4. Doc Converter Pro API – for programmers looking to add document conversion to their Apps

Using MS Word built-in save as HTML option

If you have MS Word installed you can use the built-in save to HTML option. All you need to do is:

  • Go to the file menu
  • Select Save as
  • In the drop-down file type box select, Web Page, Filtered
  • Click Save

Easy eh? Not so fast there are two significant issues with using Word to save your HTML, the file sizes are large and the quality of the HTML is not very good.

Large file sizes when using MS Word to convert documents to HTML

If you create a simple test document like the one shown below, then save it to HTML you will see that the resulting web page has more than 100 lines of code.

If we use Upload file and convert the same file with one of our tools like WordToHTML.net you will get around 40 lines of code when full page mode is enabled, which is less than half of the size of the Word version.  If you copy and paste content from an MS Word document into Visual Editor you will get even 19 lines of code, which is less than one-fourth of the size of the Word version. You can try this experiment yourself or view our test files:

This example is for a simple document, for complex files the file size difference can be even larger.

Why does it matter if my HTML code is large?

Apart from practical issues like server space web pages with lots of code that are longer to download. Google penalizes sites with slow download times, and more importantly, users are impatient. According to research nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less, and they tend to abandon a site that has not loaded within 3 seconds.  In the modern internet, speed is the most important factor.

Word generates messy non-standard HTML when converting from Word to HTML

The other big issue with using Word is it creates overly complex non-standard HTML. Now to be fair to Microsoft, we imagine that the main reason they do this is to try to keep the layout of your files as similar as possible, but it does create issues. In our example file if we look at how Word handles the list items, this is the code it generates:

<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style=’text-indent:-18.0pt’><span
style=’font-family:Symbol’>�<span style=’font:7.0pt “Times New Roman”‘>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span></span>Apples</p>

A lot of code just to display the word apple on a list. You will also notice that Word does not use the standard HTML Li and ul list tags. It uses CSS to format the lists, if you strip out this CSS the list becomes normal text. In comparison, this is the code generated with WordToHTML.net when you upload a document and convert it.

<li style="margin-left:28.06pt; padding-left:7.94pt; font-family:serif;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">Apples</span></li>

If you just paste content from the MS Word test file into Visual Editor and choose to keep formatting you will be left with this very clean code:

<li>Apples</li>

So you can see if you want the cleanest HTML possible you need to use a proper tool to convert your Word files to HTML.

What is the best way to convert Word to HTML?

Here are our recommendations based on your various needs.

I want an online tool that will quickly convert my text or single documents to clean HTML:

Our online WordToHTML.net tool lets you paste your text into the Visual Editor and your text gets converted to HTML instantly. It is super easy to use and free for basic features.

For users who need more, our WordToHTML.net Pro version is only $10 a month and gives you the ability to upload Word (DOCX/DOC), PDF, and other file types and have them converted to HTML. You also have the ability to save your files, create conversion templates, and more cleanup features. You can try the Pro version for free.

Try our WordToHTML.net converter tool.

 

I need a Windows application to convert lots of Word or PDF files to HTML:

We have a Windows desktop product called Doc Converter Pro. It is an easy way for you to convert your Word, PDF, and other file formats to HTML. You can convert one file or batch convert hundreds of files in one go. You can also create your own custom templates to give you full control over your conversions.

The advantage of a desktop application is it will be faster if you are converting lots of files also it is a good option if your files are private as nothing will leave your system.

Find out more or Download your free trial for Windows…

 

I need a web app to batch convert my Word documents to HTML:

Our web app version of Doc Converter Pro Online gives you all the great features of our desktop version, but as it is web-based, you can work from any computer and any browser. You can also share accounts with your team.

How does Doc Converter Pro Web App differ from WordToHTML.net? Doc Converter Pro is designed for batch converting lots of documents whereas WordToHTML.net is better for cleaning up pasted text or converting single documents.

Check out the free trial of our web app…

 

I am a programmer who needs an API solution to convert our Word files to HTML:

No problem. We have a Web API version of Doc Converter Pro Online. With a few lines of code, we take all the hard work out of converting your documents. Try our free trial here…

 

We are here to help…

If you need more advice, feel free to contact us anytime. We can advise you on the best strategy for your needs.

Guten Tag and Witaj – Word to HTML is now available in German and Polish…

Word to HTML has users from all over the World so we have decided to translate our service to better accommodate non-English speakers. The first two languages to be supported are German and Polish.

We have used human translators to ensure quality. You can switch language at any time by clicking the language option in the top right of the screen.

 

New feature: You can now easily style your HTML tables…

We have added a settings screen to let you easily style your tables. To use it all you have to do is click anywhere in your table. On the floating menu that comes up click the brush icon.

On the table styling screen, you can control all aspects of the table style like color, font, padding, border and table height and width.

 

 

Upload and convert PDF files to HTML fixed layout, responsive preview and other visual changes

In December 2019 we’ve added new feature to Upload & Convert PDF files to fixed HTML layout. Just enable HTML fixed option before uploading PDF file:

We’ve moved preview saved document option from save doc menu next to Save button (1) and added new feature to preview saved document in a responsive mode (2). You can see how your html looks on mobile, tablet or laptop.

We have changed how Download as PDF option works under Chrome browser. If you save your HTML and select Download as PDF from menu next to Save button then Word to HTML will open new browser tab in Chrome and you’ll be able to save your document to PDF via Chrome.

Also we have updated top links above Visual Editor like below. Auto Save option was moved and simplified (it’s enabled by default and Word to HTML will save your document every 5 minutes if there are any unsaved changes in HTML).

We have removed link to Old Editor, yet still you can access it here via following URL: https://wordtohtml.net/site/old-editor

Also if you’re a Pro user you can select old editor in Settings.

Introducing our new easier to use editor with Super Paste…

As we add more features we are aware that the editor has become overly complex and intimidating to some users. We want to make things as simple as possible for you so we have been hard at work creating a new editor experience that is easier to use but contains more powerful features than ever.

Here is the old editor:

Here is the new easier to use editor:

If you are thinking, hey where have all the options gone?? Don’t worry they are all still there. You just need to click the 3 dots to expand out the options:

If you prefer having all the options visible you can do this by changing Editor Type option in Settings:

Introducing Super Paste! (Pro users only)

A common request from users is to keep their formatting when they paste from Word or Excel. We are pleased to introduce Super Paste. Now when you paste from Word or Excel you will keep an option to keep your formatting or clean it up:

You can control the settings for the new editor my going to the settings page:

 

New cleanup controls

We have added the following new clean up options:

  • Empty attributes: Removes all empty or with whitespace attributes like id=”” or class=” “
  • Data attributes: removes all data attributes, for example in this code <li data-animal-type=”bird”>Owl</li> it would remove data-animal-type=”bird” to leave you with <li>Owl</li>
  • Indent: tidy up your HTML to make it easier to read
  • Compress: compresses your HTML to make your file size smaller

We also added a section for CSS classes to keep or remove.

We are keen to hear what you think of the new editor and the new features, so please do let us know: [email protected] or fill out our short feedback form.

New Word to HTML Feature: Easily Create Amazon Listing Descriptions…

We have made it easier for users to create descriptions for Amazon seller listings.

Amazon restricts the code you can use for listings so we have created a simplified version of the Visual Editor that will create code that is Amazon compatible.

To get started all you need to do is click the ‘Amazon Editor mode’ link above the Visual Editor:

 

You will notice that the toolbar icons switch to simplified controls:

 

Amazon has a limit of 2000 characters for the description field, our system will warn you if your text is over 2000 characters. We also have a character count tool in the bottom right of the Visual Editor that will help you keep track.

Once you have edited the text, copy the HTML from the HTML Editor box and paste it into the Amazon listing display field.

Do let us know what you think of this feature. We also have plans to add a custom editor for creating Ebay listings.

New Word To HTML feature: Templates to help you easily create HTML signatures and more…

Templates are the easy way for you to create the text you need fast. This feature is only for PRO users.

All you have to do is click the insert template icon from the menu:

Then select your template:

Once you have selected the template you can edit the content in the editor.

At the moment we just have templates for HTML signatures but if this feature is popular we will add more templates.

Please contact us if you have ideas for new templates.

Auto copy HTML to clipboard after cleanup

To save you time when you click the Cleanup button we automatically copy the converted HTML to your clipboard ready for pasting. If you want to turn this feature off you can do so in the Settings page.