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Document format

DOCM converter

A .docm file is a Microsoft Word document that is allowed to carry VBA macros. It is the same ZIP-of-XML package as a .docx — the text still lives in word/document.xml — with one extra part holding compiled macro code and a content type that tells Word to offer to enable it.

Private for supported formats — processed in your browser

Convert supported files

Runs on your device

Drop DOCM files here

Batch files can each use a different output. Nothing uploads for local conversions.

Working inputs include camera RAW, browser-local audio/video, PDF, CBZ/CBR comics, office documents, ebooks, markup, 3D models, structured text, images, and archives.

Where DOCM comes from

Word 2007 split the single .doc extension into two: .docx, which cannot hold macros at all, and .docm, which can. The split was a security decision after a decade of macro viruses like Melissa, and it means a file extension now tells a mail gateway whether executable content is even possible.

How DOCM works

  • Identical OOXML package layout to .docx: word/document.xml, word/styles.xml, and a _rels graph inside a ZIP.
  • Macros live in word/vbaProject.bin, a compiled VBA project stored as an OLE compound file.
  • The content type of the main part ends in .document.main+xml, the same as .docx; the macroEnabled distinction is declared on the package.
  • Novus Convert deletes word/vbaProject.bin from the unpacked package before parsing anything, so the macro is never read, never interpreted, and never executed.
  • Text extraction therefore returns exactly what a .docx of the same document would return.

When to use DOCM

  • Corporate forms and report templates that automate filling and formatting.
  • Documents inherited from an internal tool that generated them with a macro attached.
  • Archiving a macro document as plain text or PDF so the executable part is left behind.
  • Auditing what a suspicious mailed document actually says without opening it in Word.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Extension alone signals that executable content may be present, which lets scanners triage.
  • Same open, documented package format as .docx, so ordinary ZIP and XML tooling reads the text.
  • Keeps automation with the document instead of requiring a separate add-in.

Limitations

  • Macros remain the most common delivery mechanism for document-borne malware.
  • Many organizations and mail gateways block .docm outright, so recipients often cannot open it.
  • Macros break whenever they depend on a host environment the recipient does not have.

Compatibility

Word 2007 onward opens .docm on Windows and macOS, showing a security prompt before any macro runs. LibreOffice Writer opens the document and can run a subset of VBA; Google Docs imports the text and discards the macros. Word on iOS and Android reads the content but will not execute macros at all. Converting in the browser here extracts the text only.

docProps/core.xml and docProps/app.xml carry author, title, and the generating application, exactly as in .docx; none of it survives into a plain-text export.

Convert DOCM to another format