How to open a .ABW file online
Three steps, a few seconds, no Office licence.
Choose your .ABW file
Drag your .ABW file onto the box, or click Choose file.
Supported
Your .ABW file is checked and laid out as a clean page right.
Read, search, save
Jump between headings, find any word, print it, or save the text as HTML or TXT.
What is a .ABW file?
Everything worth knowing about AbiWord Document files.
An ABW file is a word-processing document created by AbiWord, stored as plain XML. Open it with AbiWord (its native app) or LibreOffice Writer, which imports the format without requiring AbiWord. To share with Word users, open it in either program and save as .docx.
Programs that open .ABW files
| Full name | AbiWord Document |
|---|---|
| Developer | AbiSource (the AbiWord community / originally SourceGear) |
| First released | 1998 (AbiWord 0.x); the .abw XML format matured with AbiWord 1.0 (2002) |
| Category | Documents |
| MIME type | application/x-abiword |
| Signature | 3C 3F 78 6D 6C (") |
Related viewers
Free, no sign-up.
Is my .ABW file uploaded anywhere?
No. Your .ABW file is read and converted for you. The first time, a small open-source conversion component is downloaded and then cached.
Why does my older .ABW file look plain?
Some older word-processor files keep their formatting in a complex binary layout. The viewer shows all the text and tables reliably; richer formatting for those files is coming with server-side conversion.
Are macros in a .ABW file safe here?
Yes. The viewer never runs macros. It only reads the document text, styles and images, and tells you when a file contains macros.
Can I edit my .ABW file?
This is a viewer. You can copy the text or save it as HTML/TXT and edit it elsewhere. An online editor is on our roadmap.
It says my .ABW file is something else. Why?
We check the file's signature, not just its name. If a file was renamed, the viewer tells you what it really is and which tool opens it.
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