docx2md wraps pandoc with sensible defaults so you can convert .docx files to Markdown without memorizing flags.

docx2md report.docx
# ✓ report.docx → report.md

That's it. No config files, no build step, no Node.js runtime. One script, one dependency.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jschof1/docx2md/main/install.sh | bash

git clone https://github.com/jschof1/docx2md.git
cd docx2md
sudo make install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jschof1/docx2md/main/docx2md -o /usr/local/bin/docx2md
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docx2md

pandoc must be installed:

docx2md report.docx                    # → report.md
docx2md report.docx notes.md           # → notes.md (custom output name)

docx2md --images report.docx           # images extracted to ./images/
docx2md -i assets report.docx          # images extracted to ./assets/

docx2md chapter1.docx chapter2.docx chapter3.docx
docx2md *.docx

docx2md -s report.docx | head -20      # preview first 20 lines
docx2md -s report.docx | wc -w         # word count
docx2md -s report.docx > output.md     # redirect to file

USAGE
    docx2md [OPTIONS] <input.docx...>
    docx2md <input.docx> [output.md]

OPTIONS
    -i, --images [DIR]    Extract images into DIR (default: images/)
    -s, --stdout          Write Markdown to stdout instead of a file
    -q, --quiet           Suppress all output except errors
    -w, --wrap MODE       Line wrapping: none (default), auto, or preserve
    -h, --help            Show this help message
    -V, --version         Show version number

There are plenty of docx-to-markdown tools. Here's why this one exists:

• Zero config — no config files, no presets, no decisions to make
• One dependency — only pandoc, which you probably already have
• Batch mode — convert 50 docs in one command
• Image extraction — pull embedded images out with one flag
• Pipes — stdout mode works with head, grep, wc, and everything else
• Portable — pure bash, runs on macOS, Linux, WSL, anywhere with a shell
• Fast — no runtime, no daemon, no overhead

git clone https://github.com/jschof1/docx2md.git
cd docx2md

# Run tests
make test

# Lint
make lint

# Install locally
make install

# Uninstall
make uninstall

Does it convert .doc (old Word format)? Not directly. Convert to .docx first with libreoffice --convert-to docx file.doc, then use docx2md.

What about tables, footnotes, and math? Pandoc handles all of these. Complex tables may need manual cleanup, but most convert cleanly.

Why wrap pandoc? Isn't this just pandoc -f docx -t markdown? Yes, and that's the point. Nobody remembers those flags. docx2md report.docx is easier to type, easier to remember, and handles batch conversion and image extraction without reaching for the pandoc manual.

Contributions welcome. Please:

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b my-feature)
3. Commit your changes
4. Open a pull request

Keep it simple — this tool's value is its simplicity.

MIT — use it however you like.