diff --git a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_docx_converter.py b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_docx_converter.py
index 8e5a736b8c..1e5d682e00 100644
--- a/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_docx_converter.py
+++ b/packages/markitdown/src/markitdown/converters/_docx_converter.py
@@ -29,6 +29,19 @@
 
 _UNDERLINE_STYLE_MAP = "u => u"
 
+# Mammoth's default style map covers Word's Heading 1-6, by style id and by
+# style name. Word goes up to Heading 9, and Markdown has no level past 6, so
+# clamp the rest rather than let them fall through as plain paragraphs. This is
+# lossy on purpose: Heading 6-9 all come out as h6. A caller's style_map or the
+# document's embedded one is applied first, so either can map them differently.
+_DEEP_HEADING_STYLE_MAP = """\
+p.Heading7 => h6:fresh
+p.Heading8 => h6:fresh
+p.Heading9 => h6:fresh
+p[style-name='Heading 7'] => h6:fresh
+p[style-name='Heading 8'] => h6:fresh
+p[style-name='Heading 9'] => h6:fresh"""
+
 
 def _read_embedded_style_map(file_stream: BinaryIO) -> Optional[str]:
     """Read the style map embedded in a .docx, if it has one."""
@@ -98,6 +111,7 @@ def convert(
                 caller_style_map,
                 embedded_style_map,
                 _UNDERLINE_STYLE_MAP,
+                _DEEP_HEADING_STYLE_MAP,
             )
             if part
         )
diff --git a/packages/markitdown/tests/test_docx_headings.py b/packages/markitdown/tests/test_docx_headings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c3cca0c1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/markitdown/tests/test_docx_headings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+"""Word headings deeper than level 6 clamp to h6 rather than losing structure."""
+
+import io
+import zipfile
+
+import pytest
+
+from markitdown import MarkItDown, StreamInfo
+
+
+WORD_NAMESPACE = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main"
+STYLES_RELATIONSHIP_TYPE = (
+    "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/styles"
+)
+LEVELS = range(1, 10)
+
+
+def _headings_docx(style_id_format: str, *, stylesheet: bool) -> io.BytesIO:
+    """Build a minimal .docx holding one paragraph per Word heading level."""
+    style_ids = {level: style_id_format.format(level=level) for level in LEVELS}
+    body = "".join(
+        f'<w:p><w:pPr><w:pStyle w:val="{style_id}"/></w:pPr>'
+        f"<w:r><w:t>Level {level}</w:t></w:r></w:p>"
+        for level, style_id in style_ids.items()
+    )
+    styles_relationship = (
+        f'<Relationship Id="rId2" Type="{STYLES_RELATIONSHIP_TYPE}"'
+        ' Target="styles.xml"/>'
+        if stylesheet
+        else ""
+    )
+
+    stream = io.BytesIO()
+    with zipfile.ZipFile(stream, "w") as archive:
+        archive.writestr(
+            "[Content_Types].xml",
+            """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<Types xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/content-types">
+  <Default Extension="rels" ContentType="application/vnd.openxmlformats-package.relationships+xml"/>
+  <Default Extension="xml" ContentType="application/xml"/>
+  <Override PartName="/word/document.xml" ContentType="application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document.main+xml"/>
+</Types>""",
+        )
+        archive.writestr(
+            "_rels/.rels",
+            """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships">
+  <Relationship Id="rId1" Type="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/officeDocument" Target="word/document.xml"/>
+</Relationships>""",
+        )
+        archive.writestr(
+            "word/_rels/document.xml.rels",
+            f"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<Relationships xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships">
+  {styles_relationship}
+</Relationships>""",
+        )
+        archive.writestr(
+            "word/document.xml",
+            f"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<w:document xmlns:w="{WORD_NAMESPACE}">
+  <w:body>{body}</w:body>
+</w:document>""",
+        )
+        if stylesheet:
+            styles = "".join(
+                f'<w:style w:type="paragraph" w:styleId="{style_id}">'
+                f'<w:name w:val="heading {level}"/></w:style>'
+                for level, style_id in style_ids.items()
+            )
+            archive.writestr(
+                "word/styles.xml",
+                f"""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<w:styles xmlns:w="{WORD_NAMESPACE}">{styles}</w:styles>""",
+            )
+
+    stream.seek(0)
+    return stream
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("style_id_format", "stylesheet"),
+    [
+        # The style ids Word itself writes, matched without a stylesheet ...
+        ("Heading{level}", False),
+        # ... and the ids a localized Word writes, matched by their style name.
+        ("Titre{level}", True),
+    ],
+)
+def test_docx_headings_past_level_six_are_clamped(
+    style_id_format: str, stylesheet: bool
+) -> None:
+    docx_stream = _headings_docx(style_id_format, stylesheet=stylesheet)
+
+    result = MarkItDown().convert_stream(
+        docx_stream, stream_info=StreamInfo(extension=".docx")
+    )
+
+    assert result.markdown.split("\n\n") == [
+        f"{'#' * min(level, 6)} Level {level}" for level in LEVELS
+    ]
+
+
+def test_docx_caller_style_map_overrides_deep_heading_clamp() -> None:
+    # A caller-supplied style map still outranks the Heading 7-9 clamp.
+    docx_stream = _headings_docx("Heading{level}", stylesheet=False)
+
+    result = MarkItDown(style_map="p.Heading7 => p:fresh").convert_stream(
+        docx_stream, stream_info=StreamInfo(extension=".docx")
+    )
+
+    assert "\n\nLevel 7\n\n" in result.markdown
+    assert "###### Level 7" not in result.markdown