How to convert Word (.docx) to an EPUB ebook

How to convert Word to EPUB

Open the tool, click "Open converter," upload the Word document (.docx), wait and click "Baixar EPUB" (the converter window is in Portuguese; the button means "Download EPUB"). EPUB is the format used by e-readers. Unlike a PDF, which has fixed pages, EPUB lets the text reflow to fit the screen and the font the reader picks. Headings, lists and images from the document are kept. One file at a time. This conversion happens on our server, and the file is discarded right after.

1. Open the tool and click "Open converter." The message "Preparing the converter… it may take a few seconds. Please wait." shows while the service loads.
2. Inside the converter window, upload the Word document in .docx format. One file at a time, up to 200 MB; any other file type is refused with "Formato não suportado. Envie um arquivo .docx." (unsupported format, send a .docx file).
3. Wait for the conversion, done on our server, and click "Baixar EPUB." The ebook keeps the document's name.
4. Open the ebook in your reader (phone, tablet, Kobo, Kindle or a reading app) and check the text, the images and the table of contents before distributing it.

EPUB or PDF: which one to choose

EPUB shines with long texts meant to be read from start to finish: books, short stories, study guides, manuals and long reports. Because the text reflows to the screen, reading is comfortable on a small phone and on a large tablet alike, and the reader can bump up the font without breaking the text. A document full of wide tables, forms or a rigid page design, on the other hand, usually works better as a PDF, which preserves the exact page. The question is simple: if what matters is the text flowing well on any screen, EPUB; if it is keeping every page identical, PDF. EPUB is a W3C open standard. If you later need the ebook as MOBI for an old Kindle, see how to convert MOBI, AZW3 or FB2 e-books to EPUB (and EPUB to MOBI).

• Books and ebooks: the reader adjusts font, brightness and theme without breaking the text.
• Study guides and long manuals: comfortable to read on a phone and on a tablet.
• Short stories and long articles: they become a small file, made for e-readers.
• For reading on Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and reading apps in general: EPUB is the open standard for digital books.

What the tool does (and what it doesn't)

• Input: a Word document in .docx format. Old .doc files need to be saved as .docx in Word first.
• Output: an .epub ebook that adapts to any e-reader screen, with the document's headings, lists and images kept.
• Runs on our server: the file is sent for the conversion and discarded afterward. That is why you click "Open converter" and wait a few seconds.
• Is not an ebook editor: cover, book metadata (the descriptive details stored inside the ebook) and fine-tuning of the table of contents are not set here. The table of contents is built automatically from the headings: each "Heading 1" starts a new section. In our test, the entries came out with generic names ("Section 1," "Section 2") instead of the heading text; check in your reader and, if you need full control, use an ebook editor afterward.
• Does not replace a review: open the .epub and flip through it before publishing or sending.
• Limit of 200 MB per file; above that, the window shows "Arquivo muito grande! Máximo: 200MB" (file too large). If the conversion fails, it shows "Erro na conversão" (conversion error) with the reason. The converter window is in Portuguese.

How to prepare the Word file before converting

• Use Word's heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2) instead of manual bold: that is how the document carries its chapter and section structure into any conversion.
• Insert images inline in the body text, at the point where they should appear, and avoid loose text boxes and floating elements.
• Replace wide tables with text or small tables: on a phone screen, a ten-column table does not fit.
• Remove headers, footers and page numbers: an ebook has no fixed pages, so they lose their meaning.

Need to go back from EPUB to Word?

The reverse path exists too, and it runs in your browser: the EPUB to Word conversion turns an ebook into an editable .docx, with headings, text, lists and images (tables become lines of text), for reviewing or reusing the content. What that conversion keeps, plus the Markdown and HTML outputs, is in how to convert EPUB to Word, Markdown or HTML.

Prefer fixed pages? Convert Word to PDF

If the document has a rigid page design (wide tables, forms, two columns), PDF is the right call. The Word, Excel and PowerPoint to PDF conversion also happens on our server and delivers a file that opens the same on any device. The steps are in how to convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint to PDF.

Unlike most AtlasDocs tools, which run in your browser, this conversion happens on our server: the file is sent to generate the ebook and discarded afterward. If the text is confidential, consider whether you can send it before using the tool.

If you already have the text ready in Word, turning it into EPUB is the step that makes the document a pleasant read on any screen, with no page-design program and no technical know-how.