How to fix XML Parsing Error in Microsoft Word

One among the errors encountered by Microsoft Word users is the XML Parsing Error when they try to open a Word Document. This error is seen after an upgrade of the Office version or if the document is exported.

The error message says that “We cant open filename.docx because we found a problem with its contents”. When you check the details of the error it says XML Parsing Error and gives the location of the error (Part, Line, and Column) indicating where we can look in the document for resolving the error. Generally, this error is caused by encoding errors in the XML file (that is part of the document) which Word is not able to interpret. Here we will discuss the method of resolving this error using Notepad++ and Winrar/Winzip.

 

Error Message Window Min

 

Fix Using Notepad++ and Winrar or Winzip

 

The .docx file is a .zip file containing a number of .xml files so this error indicates a location in one of the .xml files.



 

1. Select the Word document showing the error and press F2 to change the file extension.

2. Now change the extension from .docx to .zip.

 

Rename Doc File To Zip Min

 

3. Click on Yes in the dialog asking for a confirmation of the extension change.

 

Rename Confirmation Min

 

4. If extensions are not visible, go to the View tab in File Explorer and check the box next to File name extensions.

 

File Explorer File View File Name Extensions Min

 

5. Double-click on the file converted to .zip. You will see a number of files that are a part of the word document.

 

Double Click Zip File Min

 

6. From the location in the error message identify the file causing the error. Extract this XML file outside the zip archive.

 

List Of Files In Zip Min

 

7. Now we will edit the file using Notepad++. Click on this link to download Notepad++ if you don’t have it installed on your PC.

8. Right-click on the extracted XML file and select Edit with Notepad++.

 

Xml File Edit With Notepad++ Min

 

9. To view correct lines and columns you need to install the XML Tools plugin.

10. Go to the Plugins menu at the top.

11. Select Plugins Admin in the menu that appears.

 

Notepad++ Plugin Admin Min

 

12. In the Plugins Admin, go to the Available tab.

13. Look for XML Tools Plugin in the list and select it. Click on the Install button.

 

Plugins Admin Install Xml Tools Min

14. In the confirmation window, click on Yes to quit so that installation happens and then restart Notepad++.

 

Confirm Notepad Restart Min

 

15. Once the Plugin is installed, go to Plugins –> XML Tools.

16. Select Pretty Print to format the file.

 

Plugins Xml Tools Pretty Print Min



 

17. In the formatted file, go to the location mentioned in the error. This error will differ between files. Look for inconsistencies like special characters not enclosed in a code block and unusually formatted links and code. In such cases, you will see an exclamation point next to the line.

 

Xml Formaltted File Min

 

18. After resolving the error, press Ctrl + S to save this file. Copy and paste it back into the .zip file.

19. Now rename the file to .docx or .doc and try opening it again.

 

Change Back To Docx Min

 

If you are able to open the Word document without any XML parsing issues it means the error is fixed.

Thanks for reading.

Comment and let us know whether this method worked for you in resolving the XML Parsing error.