A small Windows desktop app for opening and viewing Microsoft Word .docx files — without installing Microsoft Office.
Built with Tauri 2 and docx-preview (Apache-2.0).
Website: maks417.github.io/ViewDocx
Releases — pick the latest version and download one of:
| File | Who it's for |
|---|---|
*-setup.exe |
Most people — run the installer and follow the prompts |
*.msi |
IT departments — silent or managed deployment |
The installer is about 5–10 MB. On first install it may download the WebView2 runtime if your PC does not already have it (internet required once).
Windows SmartScreen: the app is not code-signed yet. Windows may show “Unknown publisher” on first run. Choose More info → Run anyway to continue.
- Open
.docxfrom the toolbar, drag-and-drop, double-click (file association), or the Recent list (up to 10 files) - Layout rendering for tables, images, page breaks, headers, and footers
- Zoom (including fit width), print, and Save as PDF (vector export with selectable text — no print dialog)
- Status bar with file path and document stats
- Small footprint — uses the system WebView instead of bundling a full browser
- Install from a release (see above), or build from source (contributors).
- Open a document:
- Open on the toolbar, or Ctrl+O
- Drag a
.docxonto the window - Double-click a
.docxin File Explorer (after install) - Pick a file from Recent (clock icon)
- Use the toolbar for zoom, print, and PDF export.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open | Ctrl+O |
| Save as PDF | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Ctrl+P | |
| Zoom in | Ctrl++ |
| Zoom out | Ctrl+- |
| Actual size (100%) | Ctrl+0 |
| OS | Windows 10 or later (64-bit). macOS and Linux builds are not shipped yet. |
| Runtime | WebView2 — included on Windows 11; installed by the setup program on older systems when needed. |
| Formats | .docx only. Legacy .doc files are detected and reported as unsupported. |
| Save as PDF | Windows only (uses WebView2 PrintToPdf). |
| Editing | View-only — this is a reader, not a Word replacement. |
On Windows, install Visual Studio Build Tools with the Desktop development with C++ workload if tauri build fails to find a linker.
git clone https://github.com/Maks417/ViewDocx.git
cd ViewDocx
npm install
npm run tauri devFrontend-only work (no Rust changes):
npm run dev # Vite on http://localhost:1420| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
src/ |
TypeScript UI (toolbar, viewer, drag-and-drop) |
src-tauri/ |
Rust backend, Tauri config, bundling |
.github/workflows/ |
CI build on push/PR; release on version tags |
Artifacts are written to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.
npm run build:installer| Output | Use |
|---|---|
nsis/*-setup.exe |
End-user installer (downloads WebView2 bootstrapper when needed) |
msi/*.msi |
MSI for IT / silent install |
Microsoft Store: not configured yet (requires a code-signing certificate). src-tauri/tauri.microsoftstore.conf.json and npm run build:store are kept for a possible future submission — see Tauri — Microsoft Store.
build.yml— builds on every push and pull request tomain/master; uploads Windows installers as workflow artifacts.release.yml— runs when a version tag is pushed; builds Windows installers and publishes a GitHub Release with assets attached.
Cutting a release (maintainers):
npm run release:bump -- 1.0.4 # syncs package.json, tauri.conf.json, Cargo.toml
git add -A
git commit -m "Release v1.0.4"
git tag v1.0.4
git push
git push origin v1.0.4Accepted tag forms: v1.0.4 or 1.0.4 (see the workflow on.push.tags list).
To also ship macOS or Linux installers, uncomment the extra matrix rows in release.yml (and the matching jobs in build.yml).
Release notes and assets are defined in the workflow (releaseBody, releaseDraft: false). Edit .github/workflows/release.yml to change the default release text or switch to draft releases.
Application code is under the MIT License. Third-party dependencies use permissive licenses (MIT / Apache-2.0).