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Word found unreadable content: what it means and how to fix it

Short answer

The .docx file is partly damaged. Some of its internal XML, often an image, text box, frame or field, doesn't match what Word expects. The quickest fix is to click Yes so Word rebuilds what it can, then use File > Save As right away to save it under a new name. If Yes fails, use File > Open > Browse, then the arrow next to Open > Open and Repair.

What this message means

A .docx file is a zipped bundle of XML parts: the body text, styles, images, headers and so on. When Word opens the file and one of those parts is broken, missing or doesn't match the rest, it stops and asks whether to recover. If you click Yes, Word skips or rebuilds the broken parts and opens whatever it can still read. Formatting, images or a section may be lost, so check the recovered file before you overwrite the original. The damage usually comes from an interrupted save or copy, a sync conflict, or a single broken object inside the document, not from a problem with Word itself.

Common causes

CauseHow to tell
The save or copy was interrupted (power cut, crash, USB drive removed, network drop)The file was last saved to a USB stick, a network share or a laptop that shut down. The recovered document is cut short or missing its last pages.
One embedded object is corrupt (an image, text box, frame, chart, equation or content control)Clicking Yes opens the document, but one picture, text box or heading is gone or broken. The error comes back every time you save and reopen the file.
Cloud sync conflict or incomplete download (OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive)The file lives in a synced folder, a "conflicted copy" or duplicate file appears next to it, or the file size is much smaller than expected.
The file was damaged when it was emailed or downloaded, or was created by another programOnly files from one sender, website or converter (Google Docs, Pages, LibreOffice, a PDF-to-Word tool) show the error. Your own documents open fine.
A Word add-in or a damaged Normal.dotm template, not the file itselfSeveral different documents show the error on this computer only, and the same files open without it on another computer or in Word for the web.

How to fix it

1. Click Yes, then save the recovered copy under a new name

  1. In the "Word found unreadable content" dialog, click Yes.
  2. If Word opens the document, check it against what you expect: page count, images, tables, headers and footers.
  3. Go to File > Save As and save it under a new file name, as a Word Document (*.docx). Keep the original untouched.
  4. Close Word, reopen the new copy and confirm the message no longer appears.

2. Use Open and Repair

Word for Windows (Microsoft 365, 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016). Word for Mac has no Open and Repair option.

  1. Open Word without opening the document.
  2. Go to File > Open > Browse. Don't open the file from the Recent list.
  3. Click the damaged document once to select it.
  4. Click the arrow next to the Open button and choose Open and Repair.
  5. If it opens, use File > Save As to save the repaired copy under a new name.

3. Restore an earlier version from OneDrive, SharePoint or a backup

OneDrive/SharePoint version history needs the file to be stored there. On Mac, Time Machine works for local files.

  1. If the file opens after clicking Yes: on Windows (Microsoft 365), click the file name in the title bar and choose Version history. On Mac, click the document name in the title bar and choose Browse Version History.
  2. If it won't open at all, go to onedrive.com (or the SharePoint library), right-click the file and choose Version history.
  3. Open a version from before the problem started and check that it is complete.
  4. Choose Restore, or save that version as a separate copy.
  5. For local files, use Windows File History (right-click the file > Properties > Previous Versions) or Time Machine on a Mac.

4. Insert the damaged file into a new blank document

Word for Windows

  1. In Word, go to File > New > Blank document.
  2. On the Insert tab, click the arrow next to Object and choose Text from File.
  3. Select the damaged document and click Insert.
  4. Reapply any formatting that was lost in the last section, then save the new document under a new name.

5. Find and remove the broken object, or copy everything except the last paragraph mark

  1. Open the document by clicking Yes, and switch to View > Draft (Windows) so that section breaks show and don't get copied.
  2. Press Ctrl+End, then Ctrl+Shift+Home (Mac: Cmd+End, then Cmd+Shift+Home) to select everything except the final paragraph mark, which holds the section formatting.
  3. Copy the selection, create a new blank document and paste into it, then save and reopen it.
  4. If the error comes back, the problem is in the content. Copy half the document into a new file and test whether it saves and reopens cleanly, then keep halving the bad half until you find the culprit.
  5. Delete or recreate that object (often a picture inside a frame, a text box, an equation or a content control), then save.

6. Extract the text with Recover Text from Any File

Windows: File > Open > Browse, file type list. Mac: File > Open, Enable menu (click Show Options if you don't see it).

  1. Windows: go to File > Open > Browse. In the file type list next to the file name box, choose Recover Text from Any File (*.*).
  2. Mac: go to File > Open and set the Enable menu to Recover Text from Any File.
  3. Select the damaged document and open it.
  4. Delete the unreadable binary characters at the start and end, then save as a new .docx. Formatting, images and drawing objects are lost, but body text, headers, footers and footnotes come through as plain text.

Next time, skip the search

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Still not fixed?

If none of these methods recover the content, check the file size first. A 0 KB file, or one much smaller than the original, has no data left to recover. In that case, look for Word's AutoRecover copies (on Windows, File > Info > Manage Document > Recover Unsaved Documents), an email attachment or a backup. If several documents show the error on one computer only, start Word in safe mode (hold Ctrl while launching it, or run winword /safe) and then repair Office from Settings > Apps. For work files on SharePoint or OneDrive for Business, your IT admin can restore older versions or recycle-bin copies. Microsoft Support can help if Word itself is misbehaving, but it can't rebuild a corrupt file.

Questions people ask

Is it safe to click Yes when Word says it found unreadable content?

Yes, if you know where the file came from. Word only rebuilds the parts it can read and doesn't change the original until you save over it. Save the recovered version under a new name so the original is still there for other recovery methods.

Why does the error come back every time I open the document?

Clicking Yes repairs the document in memory, but the damaged part is still in the file until you save a new copy. If the error returns even after Save As, one object in the document (often a picture, frame or text box) is still broken and needs to be found and deleted.

Will I lose my formatting or images?

Maybe. Clicking Yes and Open and Repair usually keep most formatting but can drop the damaged image, table or section. Recover Text from Any File keeps only the text.

Does this message mean the file has a virus?

No. It means the file's internal structure is damaged, not that it is malicious. If the file came from someone you don't know, it's still best not to click Yes, and to ask the sender for a fresh copy instead.

Can I fix it without Microsoft Word?

Sometimes. Word for the web, LibreOffice Writer and Google Docs parse .docx files differently and may open a file that desktop Word rejects. You can then save or export a clean .docx from them.

Sources

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