Write in Markdown, hand in a Word document

To turn Markdown into a Word document, open the .md file in Madosuite Word and save it as .docx. Word is a word processor that runs in your browser tab, reads .md files directly and saves .docx, .pdf, .odt and more.

Why write in Markdown at all

Markdown is plain text with a few marks for structure: # for a heading, * for a list item, ** for bold. It is quick to type, works in any editor, and diffs cleanly if you keep your drafts in git. Many people write notes, docs and reports that way.

The trouble starts when someone asks for “the Word file”. A teacher, a client or an editor wants a .docx they can open, comment on and track changes in. You want to keep writing in plain text. Madosuite lets you do both, on your own device.

What you need

Your .md file.
A browser. Madosuite is free and needs no account.

Madosuite is a desktop of apps in a browser tab. It runs a Linux machine on your device, and your files live in that machine’s home folder. They are not uploaded to us.

Steps

Go to madosuite.com and open Files.
Press Upload and pick your .md file.
Open the .md file with Word.
Check the structure. Open the Navigation pane and see whether your headings are listed. Click through the document and look at lists, tables, links and code.
Fix what needs fixing (see below).
Save as .docx. Save as .pdf too if you want a version that looks the same everywhere.
Open Files and download the files.

You can also write the Markdown in Madosuite. Edix, the code editor on the same desktop, can edit the .md in the same home folder, and Word opens it from there.

Tidy the styles

A Word document is judged by its styles. The person who gets your .docx will expect real headings, not big bold text, so the Navigation pane and a table of contents work.

Headings. Select a heading and pick Heading 1, Heading 2 and so on from the Styles gallery, if they did not come in that way. The gallery previews each style live.
Title. Give the first line the Title style if your document has one.
Body text. Keep normal paragraphs in the Normal style. To change the look of every paragraph at once, modify the style instead of formatting text by hand.
Style sets and themes. Word has style sets and themes that change fonts and colours across the whole document in one go.

Once the headings use heading styles, you can add the parts a Word reader expects:

A table of contents from the References tab, with dotted leaders and page numbers.
Page numbers, headers and footers.
Footnotes, captions and citations (APA, MLA, Chicago or IEEE) if this is a paper.

Hand it in

.docx if the reader will edit, comment or track changes. Word supports comments, track changes and compare documents, so you can take their edits back in the same app.
.pdf if the reader only needs to read or print. Word exports PDF with selectable text, links and bookmarks. See the DOCX to PDF tool.
.tex if a journal or a co-author works in LaTeX. Word saves .tex as well.

Keep the .md as your source if you prefer to write in plain text. Word can also save back to .md, but formatting added in Word may not survive a trip back to plain text.

Limits

Word is in alpha. Its makers estimate it is about 60% ready for real work. Things to know:

Testing against real-world .docx files is still on the makers’ list. Open the .docx you made once more before you send it, and if you can, ask the reader to confirm it looks right.
Charts and SmartArt do not yet keep through a round trip.
Page breaks may fall differently than in Microsoft Word, because closer pagination fidelity is still being worked on.
Native printing is not done yet. Export a PDF and print that.
Markdown flavours differ. Extensions such as footnote syntax, task lists or maths may not come in the way your Markdown editor shows them. Check those parts by eye.
Images linked from the Markdown may not come in. If one is missing, upload it to Files and insert it as a picture in Word.

Your files live in the browser’s storage for madosuite.com. Clearing the site’s data deletes them, so download the .docx and keep your .md somewhere safe.

If you need Word files often and want to know where Madosuite fits, read the Microsoft Word alternative page. For other .docx files people send you, see how to open a .docx file.

Go to the MD to DOCX tool or the Word app page.