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Import a Word document

Open in ChatGPT

Bring a Word .docx file into Writing Studio as a new paper, with its headings, images and comments.

Click Import from Word on the home screen and pick a .docx file. Writing Studio opens it as a new paper, with its headings, images and Word comments.

Import a Word file

  1. Click New document in the left sidebar to go to the home screen.
  2. Under the chat box, click Import from Word.
  3. Choose a .docx file from your computer.

The file opens as a new paper. Your original Word file isn’t changed.

Drop or attach a file instead

You can also drag a .docx file onto the home screen, or attach one to the chat box there. Writing Studio asks whether the file is your paper or your assignment brief:

  • Open as my paper imports it, as above.
  • Use as the brief reads it as the instructions for your assignment instead. See Read your assignment brief.

What comes in

  • Title: the first line of the file becomes the paper’s title, if it’s a heading or a short paragraph. Otherwise the file name is used.
  • Text and structure: headings, bold, italics, lists and tables.
  • Images: every picture in the file. They’re saved and backed up like images you add yourself.
  • Comments: comments from Word, such as a tutor’s notes, are added to the passages they were on. A message tells you how many came in, like “3 comments came in from the Word file”. See Add and reply to comments.

Fonts, text sizes and colours aren’t kept. Your paper uses Writing Studio’s own style, so it looks consistent.

In your writing history, imported text is marked as Imported, so it’s clear it was written somewhere else.

Make typed citations live

If your Word file has citations typed as plain text, like “(Smith, 2020)”, and a typed reference list, Writing Studio notices. You’ll see “This draft’s citations are typed.” with a Make them live button.

Making them live matches each typed citation to its source. Then the citations change with your citation style, and your reference list is built for you. It counts as 1 citation check. See Turn typed citations into live ones.

If the file won’t open

If you see “That file couldn’t be opened”, the file may be damaged, or it may not be a real .docx file. Open it in Word, choose Save As, pick the Word Document (.docx) format, and import the new file.

Older .doc files, PDFs and other formats can’t be imported. Save them as .docx first.

Coming from Google Docs or Pages

There’s no direct connection to Google Docs. In Google Docs, choose File, then Download, then Microsoft Word (.docx), and import that file. In Pages, export the document as Word. See Google Docs and Microsoft Word.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import a .doc, PDF or Google Doc?

Only Word .docx files can be imported as a paper. Open an older .doc file in Word and save it as .docx first. From Google Docs, choose File, Download, Microsoft Word (.docx), then import that file.

Will my fonts and colours come in?

No. Headings, bold, italics, lists and tables come in, but fonts, sizes and colours are replaced by Writing Studio's own clean style. You can choose a Default or Serif typeface in Paper settings.

Do the citations in my Word file become real citations?

Not straight away, because they're typed text. Writing Studio notices them and offers Make them live, which matches them to their sources so they change with your citation style.