Convert Word to Unicode Text — Extract Plain Text from DOC/DOCX

• Converts both DOC (Word 97–2003) and DOCX (Word 2007+) files
• Outputs Unicode TXT files readable in any text editor on any OS
• Processes hundreds of files in a single batch
• Works 100% offline — no files uploaded anywhere
• Provides command-line interface for automation
• Includes a 30-day free trial with no limitations

Download Total Doc Converter and start extracting text from Word files today.

Word vs Unicode Text: What Is the Difference?

DOC and DOCX are Microsoft Word's native document formats. They store not only the text itself but also fonts, styles, images, headers, footers, tables, and macros. This makes them feature-rich but also heavy, proprietary, and dependent on Word or a compatible application to open correctly.

Unicode text (.txt with UTF-8 or UTF-16 encoding) is the simplest document format possible: pure text with no formatting. Unlike older ASCII or ANSI encodings, Unicode supports over 140,000 characters across all modern writing systems. A Unicode text file opens instantly in Notepad, vi, nano, or any text editor on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

When you convert Word to Unicode, all formatting is stripped away — fonts, images, tables, and layout are discarded. What remains is the raw text content, accurately encoded so that every character displays correctly regardless of the reader's operating system or locale settings.

How to Convert Word to Unicode Text

• Step 1. Launch Total Doc Converter. The left panel shows a folder tree for quick navigation.
• Step 2. Browse to the folder that contains your Word files. The file list in the center displays all supported documents (DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT, and more).
• Step 3. Check the files you want to convert. Use Check All to select every file in the folder for batch conversion.
• Step 4. Click TXT in the format toolbar at the top of the window.
• Step 5. In the conversion wizard, select Unicode as the text encoding. Choose a destination folder for the output files.
• Step 6. Press Start. The converter processes all selected files and saves Unicode TXT output to your chosen folder.

Each Word file becomes a separate .txt file. Original DOC/DOCX files remain untouched. The output text files use Unicode encoding, so international characters — accented letters, CJK ideographs, Cyrillic, Arabic — display correctly everywhere.

Command-Line Conversion

Total Doc Converter includes a command-line interface for converting Word files without the GUI. Example:

DocConverter.exe C:\Data\report.docx C:\Output\report.txt -c TXT -tUnicode

You can wrap this command in a .bat file or a scheduled task to automate recurring conversions. This is useful for server-side text extraction, indexing pipelines, or any workflow where you need plain text from Word documents without manual intervention.

Why Use Total Doc Converter?

True Unicode output. Unlike simple copy-paste, Total Doc Converter uses proper encoding tables to ensure every character is mapped correctly. Accented characters, symbols, and non-Latin scripts survive the conversion intact.

Batch processing. Select 1,000 Word files and convert them all to Unicode text in a single run. Each source document becomes a separate .txt file. No need to open files one by one in Word and re-save them.

DOC and DOCX support. Works with legacy Word 97–2003 files (.doc) and modern Office Open XML files (.docx). You can also convert RTF, ODT, and other document formats from the same tool.

No Microsoft Word required. Total Doc Converter is a standalone application. It reads Word files using its own parser — no Office installation needed on the machine.

Privacy. All conversion happens locally on your PC. No cloud uploads, no third-party servers. Safe for legal documents, contracts, and confidential correspondence.

20+ output formats. Besides Unicode TXT, convert Word files to PDF, HTML, RTF, XHTML, ODT, JPEG, TIFF, and more — all from the same program.

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Total Doc Converter Customer Reviews 2026

"We pull text from thousands of Word files into our search index every night. Total Doc Converter runs from the command line, handles DOC and DOCX equally, and produces clean Unicode output that indexes without encoding errors. Processing time for 5,000 files is under two minutes."

Daniel Kovacs Data Engineer

"Our CMS only accepts plain text for bulk imports. Total Doc Converter batch-converts the entire Word archive to Unicode TXT in one run — no Microsoft Office needed on the server. The output is consistent and ready to import without any manual cleanup."

Claire Hoffman Content Manager

"I use it to extract text from multilingual Word documents containing Hindi, Arabic, and Chinese. Every character comes through intact in the Unicode output. The command-line parameters are straightforward, and it integrates easily into our document processing pipeline."

Arjun Mehta Software Developer

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