Open files in VS Code and Cursor / Office files

Make a redline of two DOCX files

A redline shows what changed between two versions of a document. DOCX Viewer by Zovo makes one in VS Code: right-click two .docx files and pick "Compare Documents (Redline)...". To send it back as Word, click "Export DOCX": you get a new .docx built on the newer version where every difference is a real tracked change (author "Compare") that Word and LibreOffice can accept or reject one by one. The redline view is free; the DOCX and HTML exports are Zovo Pro, USD 19 once, with 3 free tries.

Free, MIT license. Extension ID zovo.docx-viewer-vscode, version 0.4.7. Needs VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.

Steps in VS Code

1. Install DOCX Viewer from the Marketplace, or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on macOS) and run ext install zovo.docx-viewer-vscode.
2. Right-click the two .docx files in the Explorer and pick "Compare Documents (Redline)...", or run "Redline against Git HEAD" on one file.
3. Check the changes in the change list. The Theme button shows the redline on white paper.
4. Click "Export DOCX" for a Word file with tracked changes, or "Export HTML" for one file that prints to PDF.
5. Open the exported file in Word or LibreOffice and accept or reject the changes one by one.

Steps in Cursor, Windsurf or VSCodium

1. Open the Extensions view with Ctrl+Shift+X (Cmd+Shift+X on macOS).
2. Search for zovo.docx-viewer-vscode and click Install. Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium install from Open VSX, where it is published as zovo/docx-viewer-vscode.
3. If your editor has no gallery, download the .vsix from the Open VSX page and run "Extensions: Install from VSIX...".
4. Then use it the same way as in VS Code.

What DOCX Viewer handles

• The export keeps the newer document's styles, numbering, headers, footers, pictures and comments.
• Inserted and deleted words become w:ins and w:del, moved paragraphs w:moveFrom and w:moveTo, and added or removed table rows become row revisions. Formatting changes are written as formatting revisions.
• Two 500-page documents: compare in 0.44 s and DOCX export in 0.64 s, including a check that the result opens and its changes can be accepted and rejected.
• Compare two folders of documents (Zovo Pro): one HTML redline per changed pair of same-named files and an index.html with the counts.

What it does not do

• The redline compares the main text and tables, not headers, footers, footnote text, text boxes or comments. The export keeps those parts of the newer document as they are.
• A changed picture, chart or equation is marked only when one is added or removed.
• It needs desktop VS Code.

Free and Zovo Pro

Free, and staying free: Reading and Page view, search, the outline, tracked changes and comments, Copy as Markdown, the Markdown compare, and the on-screen redline with its change list, filters and side-by-side mode.

Zovo Pro adds these tools to DOCX Viewer. Each one works 3 times on your computer before it asks for a license. Nothing about Pro shows when you open a file: no popup, no countdown, no banner.

• Export the redline as a new .docx with real tracked changes that Word and LibreOffice can accept or reject one by one.
• Export the redline as one HTML file that prints to PDF.
• Compare two folders of documents: one HTML redline per changed pair and an index.html with the counts.

Zovo Pro costs USD 19 once. It is not a subscription, and one purchase covers every Zovo VS Code extension. Today it also covers the Pro tools in Hex Viewer and Postgres & MySQL Query Client, and Pro tools added to other Zovo extensions later.

Two ways to unlock it:

1. GitHub Sponsors: pick the "$19 one time" tier. Then, in VS Code, click a Pro tool and pick "Unlock with GitHub Sponsors" (or type "GitHub Sponsors" in the Command Palette) and sign in with the same GitHub account. A monthly sponsorship of USD 10 or more that is still running counts too.
2. PayPal, no GitHub account needed: send USD 19 by PayPal with "Zovo Pro" in the note, then post the transaction ID with the Zovo Pro key form (a public GitHub issue, so post only the ID). The license key goes to the email address of your PayPal account within a day. Click a Pro tool and pick "I have a license key" (or type "license key" in the Command Palette) and paste it. The key is checked on your computer, with no network call.

A team of 5: USD 59 once by PayPal, with "Zovo Pro Team" in the note. Every rule and every Pro tool is on the Zovo Pro page.

In JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, CLion and others)

• DOCX & PPTX Viewer by Zovo. Our own JetBrains plugin. It was still waiting for JetBrains review on 9 November 2026. It views documents; the redline is only in the VS Code extension.
• Docx Browser. Shows the XML parts inside a Word file (1,260 downloads). It does not compare documents.

Other options

• Stella Folio (stll.stella-folio, 196 installs, on Open VSX). Its own description: "Open .docx files in VS Code and edit them on laid-out pages: type, track changes, comment, and save back to the same file." An editor with tracked changes rather than a compare of two files.
• Microsoft Word. Review, Compare in Word makes the same kind of document with tracked changes. It needs a Word licence.
• python-docx-redline and other libraries. Code libraries can write tracked changes into a .docx from a script. Good for a pipeline, more work for one contract.
• Draftable and other compare services. Paid document compare products. Their legal plans export DOCX redlines and compare many files.

Install counts and Open VSX status were checked on 9 November 2026. Descriptions in quotes are the extensions' own.

Questions

More about DOCX Viewer

Read the DOCX Viewer page for every feature and setting, or the source code on GitHub.

Related guides

• DOCX Viewer & ODT Viewer on the VS Code Marketplace (also on Open VSX). Shows Word .docx, .doc, .odt and .rtf files as pages, with a dark mode.
• Open a .docx Word file in VS Code
• Compare two Word documents
• Export Word track changes to Excel
• Open Word and PowerPoint files without Office